By RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com, originally filed Tuesday, February 17, 2015
With one notable exception, actors on "The Walking Dead" want to stay alive on the show as long as possible.
The perks of being on the most popular cable show of all time are palpable: the largely outdoor sets, the mosquitoes, the heat, the humidity and general lack of flattering makeup.
More seriously, the actors who are fortunate to become regulars on "The Walking Dead" are seen by more than 20 million viewers per episode and have an amazing notch on their acting resume. The cast becomes a family because they suffer for their art together, typically away from home. (Only three regulars originally lived in metro Atlanta: Iron E. Singleton, Chandler Riggs and Melissa McBride.)
Plus, they are guaranteed work at science fiction-related conventions (e.g. Walker Stalker) for years to come.
So what are many of the actors doing now? Here is a sampling, in order of departure.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Jeffrey DeMunn (Dale Horvath)
Character: The RV owner who fashioned himself as the calm, moral center of the group.
Death: Season 2, episode 10. A walker gets him in the stomach after he is distracted by a dead cow. The walker was released by Carl earlier in the day. Daryl shoots Dale out of mercy.
What is DeMunn up to: He requested to leave the show because AMC had fired original producer Frank Darabont out of loyalty. He joined Darabont's next project "Mob City" on TNT as Hal Morrison, the detective at the head of the LAPD's new mob squad. Unfortunately, the show did poorly and it was over after six episodes. He has also had guest roles on CBS's "The Good Wife" and Showtime's "The Affair."
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Jon Bernthal (Shane Walsh):
Character: He was Rick Grimes' partner before the zombie apocalypse. At the hospital, he left Rick, who had been shot prior to the mess began, in a coma as mayhem was happening. He presumed Rick was a dead man and soon started sleeping with Lori. When Rick reunited with them, the unforeseen love triangle caused tension, especially since Shane presumably impregnated Lori. Shane's aggressive, selfish approach to survival rubbed many the wrong way.
Death: Season 2, episode 12. Shane tried to kill Rick but ended up getting killed himself. Rick stabbed him in the heart. He reanimated into a zombie as Carl arrives. Carl shot zombie Shane.
What Bernthal has been up to: He starred in Darabont's 2013 "Mob City" as the lead Joe Teague but the show was nixed quickly. He has otherwise kept himself busy in films such as "The Wolf on Wall Street," "Fury" and "Me & Myself & the Dying Girl," which just won the Grand Jury Prize for the U.S. Dramatic competition at the Sundance Film Festival. He is the busiest of all the post-"Walking Dead" actors. Other films set for release this year featuring Bernthal will also star Dakota Fanning ("Vienna and the Fantomes"), Zac Efron ("We Are Your Friends") and Ben Affleck ("The Accountant," shot in Atlanta).
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
IronE Singleton (T Dog/Theodore Douglas):
Character: He played an Atlanta boy, much like himself. Merle got into a nasty scuffle with him and was handcuffed to a drain pipe on the rooftop. As zombies were approaching, T Dog fumbled with the handcuff key and dropped it out of reach of anybody. Over time, he became a quiet but reliable force of good for Rick's crew until season 3.
Death: Season 3, episode 4. He tried to stop a walker invasion into the prison and got bit. Later, he heroically helped save Carol by letting two walkers eat him since he knew he's a goner.
What Singleton has been up to: He wrote a book about his hardscrabble life and put together a one-person autobiographical play. He had a small role in a 2013 Lifetime TV movie "An Amish Murder" with Neve Campbell and a film called "A Box for Rob," also released in 2013.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Sarah Wayne Callies (Lori Grimes):
Character: The wife of Rick Grimes who assumed for a time she was a widow and slept with Shane. But when Rick came back, she decided to stick with Rick and reject Shane. She also became pregnant, probably with Shane's child. Her mothering was often questioned, given how frequently Carl went off by himself and got in trouble.
Death: Season 3, episode 4. Her birth ended up killing her because a C-Section was the only option to keep the baby alive. As she bled out, Carl had to kill her to keep her from turning. But she at least got to say goodbye to her son.
What Callies has been up to: She starred in a 2012 Nigerian action film "Black November" and the 2014 disaster film "Into the Storm." She has two films coming up in 2015: horror flick "The Other Side of the Doro" and a Nicolas Cage project "Pay the Ghost."
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Michael Rooker (Merle Dixon):
Character: Merle is an angry, racist man in season one. Rick handcuffed him to a pipe on the roof of an Atlanta building after he beat down T-Dog and called him the N word. When walkers overtook the roof, he got away only after he cut off his hand. Later, he joined the Governor and was loyal to him - until he ran into his brother Daryl. He ultimately joined Daryl and Rick, but never quite fits into the group at the prison.
Death: Season 3, episode 15. He tried to take down the Governor but failed. Ultimately, the Governor shot him in the chest. He became a walker who attacks Daryl. Daryl sadly had to take down his own brother.
What has Rooker been up to: His biggest role since Merle was Yondu in the huge 2014 film "Guardians of the Galaxy."
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Laurie Holden (Andrea)
Character: Andrea started rather timid but grew stronger through season two. After the farm was overrun, she was separated from everyone else and hooked up with Michonne for the winter. They eventually landed at Woodbury and she became the Governor's lover. But when she discovered what an evil man he was, she tried to negotiate peace between the Governor and Rick.
Death: Season 3, episode 16. She was caught by the Governor and tied down in the torture room where she was left with a dying Milton, who tried but failed to kill the Governor. The Governor basically wanted Milton to turn and then eat her. He left her a pair of pliers to escape before he turned but she couldn't free herself in time. He bit her. She killed him. Rick and several others arrived, too late. With Michonne by her side, Andrew chose to kill herself before she became a walker.
What has Holden been up to: She played a minor role in the Atlanta-shot "Dumb and Dumber To" and had a recurring role on TNT's '"Major Crimes."
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Scott Wilson (Hershel Greene):
Character: He played the stoic farmer who warily allowed Rick's group to camp out while they searched for Sophia. He still held hope the zombies could be cured until Rick convinced him otherwise. They eventually get over-run and end up at the prison. There, he was bitten in the leg by a walker and had it severed before he could turn. He became the spiritual and moral force of the group.
Death: Season 4, episode 8: The Governor ambushed Michonne and Hershel and in front of everybody, lopped off Hershel's head in a shocking moment of rage.
What Wilson is up to: He has a recurring role on the new Netflix show "Bosch."
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
David Morrissey (The Governor/Philip Blake):
Character: He was the seemingly benevolent leader of Woodbury whose dark psychosis was gradually revealed. He kept zombie heads in a tank. He kept his zombie daughter alive. His men ambushed others to stock up on goods. He hosted zombie gladiator fights. He slept with Andrea. He took Maggie and Glenn hostage. When Rick and the gang arrived to extract them, Michonne found the Governor in his apartment and gouged his eyes out, as well as killed his daughter. Thinking vengeance, he attacked the prison. After his "army" was rebuffed he shot most of them up. Months later, he was found alone, almost dead, by a kind family that nurses him back to health. Soon, the trio latched onto a group of survivors. The Governor returned to his dictatorial ways, even killing a former loyalist. He somehow convinced the group to then attack the prison.
Death: Season 4, episode 8. The Governor decided to go in a blaze of glory, inciting a battle at the prison and battling Rick in hand-to-hand combat until Michonne killed him.
What is he up to: He just joined CBS's summer series with Halle Berry "Extant."
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Lawrence Gilliard Jr. (Bob Stookey)
Character: He was part of two survivor groups that didn't survive. Then he met up with Daryl and Glenn, who welcomed him into the prison fold. He used alcohol to get by. After the prison was destroyed, he splintered with Sasha and Maggie. He bonded with Sasha and they seemed to be boyfriend/girlfriend for a time.
Death: Season 5, episode 3. During a foraging expedition, he got bit. He didn't tell anybody. After he left the church, the cannibals nabbed him and eat one of his legs for dinner. He laughed because he said they are eating tainted meat. Gareth gave him back to Rick's crew, where he got to say goodbye to Sasha. Tyreese killed Bob before he can turn.
What Gilliard has been up to: He has had no new credits since the end of the show that I know of. In 2014, he had a small role in "Walk of Shame" with Elizabeth Banks.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Emily Kinney (Beth Greene):
Character: She was the young sister of Maggie and daughter of Hershel. On the farm season two, she almost committed suicide after seeing her walker mom in the barn. By the time they got to the prison, she had become a caretaker of sorts, lifting the group with kind words and song. She also mothered baby Judith after Lori died giving birth. After boyfriend Zach died, she created an emotional wall and became a bit colder about death itself. By the time she and Daryl were alone after the prison was destroyed, she was even darker but Daryl lifted her spirits and they bond. Then she was kidnapped and landed at Grady Hospital. There, she befriended Noah and tried to work with erratic leader Dawn. Her escape attempt failed (though Noah got away.)
Death: Season 5, episode 8. The hostage exchange between Dawn and Rick appeared to go smoothly until Dawn got greedy. She wanted to keep Noah in exchange for Beth. Beth had hidden scissors she whipped out and attacked Dawn, who accidentally shot and killed Beth in the head.
What Kinney is up to next: She now performs concerts at various Zombie-themed conventions including Walker Stalker in Chicago Feb. 21. She's doing a casino in Utah five days after that. Her next acting gig is playing a villain on CW's "The Flash" called the Bug-Eyed Bandit.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Chad Coleman (Tyreese)
Character: Tyreese was a beefy survivor and older brother of Sasha. They entered the prison season three as outsiders. They only stayed briefly and left, running into Milton and Andrea from Woodbury. At first, he was game helping the Governor. When the Governor attacked the prison, Tyreese and Sasha hung back. They learned later he had killed most of his own soldiers so they take the Woodbury survivor to the prison. There, he developed a relationship with Karen until Karen was killed by Carol after Karen got sick with a deadly flu. (Carol did it as a precaution.) Later, after the Governor upended the prison, Tyreese saved Judith and took Carol and the two girls Mika and Lizzie with him. He accepted Carol's move later to kill crazy Lizzie after she offed her own sister. He also accepted Carol's apology when she informed him of the death of Karen. Season five, he and Carol ran into Martin, part of the cannibal crew outside Terminus. He had a chance to kill Martin but didn't. Martin later joined Gareth and gnawed on Bob's leg before dying in the church.
Death: Season 5, episode 9. Tyreese joined Noah for a trip near Richmond only to find Noah's family's compound overrun with walkers. They visited Noah's home where Tyreese became engrossed in pictures on the wall. Noah's now zombie younger twin brother bit him in the arm. Another walker bit him again. It took seemingly forever before Rick & Co. came and cut off his arm. He was transported to the car but died en route because he lost too much blood.
What is Coleman up to: He is an executive producer of "Treadwater," an interactive website featuring motion graphic novel comics.
TV preview
"The Walking Dead," 9 p.m. Sundays, AMC
About the Author
