It was quite the journey. Over the course of The Walking Dead‘s 11 seasons, many stars have come and gone. While some have had shocking deaths — we’re still not over Glenn or Carl’s demises — other actors chose to leave the series.
Andrew LincolnThe AMC drama’s hero cop Rick Grimes was played by. Fans were shocked to learn that he would be leaving the show during season 9.
“I love this show. It is everything to me. I love the people who make this show. I promise not to cry, I’ve done enough crying on screen,” he said at Comic-Con ahead of his final season. “I suppose what I wanted to say is that my relationship with Mr. Grimes is far from over. And a sort of large part of me will always be a machete-wielding, Stetson-wearing, zombie-slaying sheriff deputy from London, England.”
A source shared with Us WeeklyAt the time, the actor wanted to do more movies and spend more of his time at home. After his final episode, however, it was revealed that he definitely isn’t done with the Walking Dead universe. AMC plans multiples instead Walking DeadFilms centered on Rick Grimes were made, and Lincoln will reprise his role.
Not everyone is so lucky. Chandler Riggs exited the show in 2018 after appearing in the first eight seasons as Rick’s son Carl Grimes. It was not his choice to leave the show and didn’t plan to, but the character was killed off after being bitten by a zombie while saving another member of the town.
“I was planning on going to college until I found out,” Riggs told The Hollywood Reporter2017. “I found out when I was doing rehearsals for episode six back in June. It was quite the shocker for me, Andy and everyone because I don’t think anyone saw it coming. It’s definitely not a bad thing because it has been awesome being on the show, but now I get to go and do a lot of other stuff that I haven’t gotten to do before.”
Danai GuriraAfter season 10, Michonne, the fan favorite, left the show. Unlike Carl, though, Michonne wasn’t killed off — she went on a mission to find Rick, who she (correctly) believes is still alive. Fans are hopeful that she will return to the movies.
Another spinoff of the hit series is Tales of The Walking DeadThe premiere of, takes place on August 14, 2022.
Continue scrolling to see what other stars have been doing since you left The Walking Dead:
