Yahoo Lifestyle 13 TV Characters Who Were Killed Off Because The Actors Wanted To Leave The Shows
Warning: This post contains mention of suicide.
Oftentimes, when TV characters are written off, the writers leave room for them to return to the show. Sometimes, however, you can't count on your fave coming back because their fate is more final.
Warning: Spoilers ahead, including MAJOR spoilers for Yellowstone Season 5, Part 2 and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2!
Here are 13 TV characters who were killed off because the actors wanted to leave their shows:
1.In 2021, Mischa Barton told E! News that she left The O.C. because she "didn't feel [she] could keep going" amidst a more demanding shooting schedule and "stuff [she thinks] people did wrong and the way they handled it."
She said, "This has been said before, but they kind of gave me an option. The producers were like, 'Well, do you want your job and to sail off into the sunset and potentially you can come back in the future in some bizarre TV scenario, or we can kill your character off, and you can go on with your career that you want and what you want to do?'
I was getting offers from big films at the time and having to turn them down. I had always been supporting in The Sixth Sense and any of those things. My dream was to be offered those lead roles, so that's what happened. It just felt like it was the best thing for me and my health and just in terms of not really feeling protected by my cast and crew at that point."
In Season 3, Episode 25, Marissa Cooper died in a car wreck that her ex-boyfriend, Kevin Volchok, caused.
2.In 2018, The Walking Dead actor Jeffrey DeMunn told Cleveland.com, "Dale's death was my decision. I was furious about how Frank [Darabont, the showrunner] was pushed out of the show."
"I spent a week not being able to take a full breath. And then I realized, 'Oh, I can quit.' So I called them and said, 'It's a zombie show. Kill me. I don't want to do this anymore.' It was an immense relief to me," he said.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Frank was fired due to budget cuts and his contentious relationship with the network.
In Season 2, Episode 11, Dale Horvath was attacked by a walker. Because his injuries were so severe, Daryl Dixon shot him to end his suffering.
3.While making Fear the Walking Dead Season 3, Frank Dillane "asked the producers and AMC if he could leave the show, because he wanted to pursue other opportunities."
In 2018, co-showrunner Andrew Chambliss told The Hollywood Reporter, "One of the first things [Ian Goldberg and I] were tasked with when we came on to run Season 4 was to find a story that would give Nick a fitting sendoff. He’s been with the show from day one, so it was very important to us and to Frank to find a death for him that was emotional and one that would ripple forward throughout the storytelling."
On Season 4, Episode 3, Nick was shot by Charlie, the child who was secretly working for the antagonistic Vultures as a mole.
4.In 2008, Kal Penn left House to serve as the Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs under President Obama.
In 2009, he told Entertainment Weekly, "I've been thinking about [moving into politics] for a while. I love what I do as an actor. I couldn't love it more. But probably from the time I was a kid, I really enjoyed that balance between the arts and public service. I went to a performing arts high school, but I still took a bunch of those dorky political science classes. It's probably because of the value system my grandparents instilled in me. They marched with Gandhi in the Indian independence movement, and that was always in the back of my head. So the past couple of years I thought about it a little more.
And in '06, I started this international studies program at Stanford, where they actually let you do most of the coursework online. So it was something I could do while I was acting. And I thought this might be the right time to go off and do something else. The ultimate irony, of course, is that I love being on House. There's not a smarter group of people that I've been surrounded by in television. So I thought about it for a very long time before I went and talked to [showrunner David Shore and executive producer Katie Jacobs]."
In Season 5, Episode 20, Dr. Lawrence Kutner died by suicide.
He cameoed as a hallucination in the Season 8 finale.
5.In 2019, Game of Thrones actor Julian Glover told IGN, "I didn't want to do [Season 6] because I realized I was being completely dismissed as a character and everyone...Cersei ticked me off all the time, and I never had any comeback. So that wasn't any fun to play."
He continued, "So I went to them and said, 'Look, I don't want to do this anymore. It's not interesting to go on doing this and go on doing this, and what's going to happen to him?' And they said, 'Oh, you can't go, we've got a wonderful scene for you.' 'Okay, can I see the scene?' 'Oh, no, you can't see the scene,' because you know, the whole thing is of keeping it secret, which is understandable.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, I got the scene, and it was my death scene, which is a damn good scene. And this is exactly the sort of way I wanted to go out."
In Season 6, Episode 10, Grand Maester Pycelle was surrounded and stabbed by children.
6.In 2015, Breaking Bad actor Raymond Cruz told AMC, "I asked them to kill me. Honestly, I wasn't looking forward to coming back and doing the part."
He continued, "It's really difficult to pull off. They were like, 'We want you to come back and do eight more episodes.' And I said, 'No. I'll do one more, and that's it. You guys have to kill me.' They're like, 'We never heard of an actor that wanted to die.' And I'm like, 'You don't understand. This part's really hard.'"
In Season 2, Episode 2, Tuco Salamanca was shot by Drug Enforcement Administration officer Hank Schrader.
He returned in the prequel series Better Call Saul.
7.In 2024, Kevin Costner announced his departure from Yellowstone. He told The Hollywood Reporter, "I gave this thing five seasons. I was really happy to do it. And I don't need drama."
He continued, "So, let's just take that drama away, let's take the guessing [away]. The fans have been way too good to me. And my obligation is to go on and continue to make things that mean something to them."
Previously, series co-creator Taylor Sheridan told THR, "My opinion of Kevin as an actor hasn't altered. His creation of John Dutton is symbolic and powerful…and I've never had an issue with Kevin that he and I couldn't work out on the phone. But once lawyers get involved, then people don't get to talk to each other and start saying things that aren't true and attempt to shift blame based on how the press or public seem to be reacting. He took a lot of this on the chin and I don't know that anyone deserves it. His movie seems to be a great priority to him and he wants to shift focus. I sure hope [the movie is] worth it — and that it's a good one.
I'm disappointed. It truncates the closure of his character. It doesn't alter it, but it truncates it."
In the first episode of Season 5, Part 2, John Dutton's kids, Kayce and Beth, find an active crime scene in his home, where it appears he's died by suicide. However, the episode flashes back, showing that, six weeks prior, Sarah Atwood, a lawyer who's out to ruin the Duttons, ordered a hit on him.
8.In 2006, Lost actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje told Entertainment Weekly that, after Mr. Eko's initial flashback episode, he felt "the character was complete." He said, "It was such a well-written episode that I knew I would be able to sew him up in a season."
Executive producer Carlton Cuse said, "In a perfect world, it would've been great to have Mr. Eko for a little longer. But it was the best time to go our separate ways."
In Season 3, Episode 5, Mr. Eko was captured and killed by the Smoke Monster.
9.In 2016, Grey's Anatomy actor Patrick Dempsey told People, "[The show's] given me the opportunity to do everything. But at the same time, there was a cost. I think after a certain period of time, no matter how much money you make, you want control out of your own schedule. It had been long enough."
"It was time for me to move on with other things and other interests. I probably should have moved on a couple of years earlier. I stayed a bit longer than I should have," he said.
In Season 11, Episode 22, Dr. Derek Shepherd died from brain injuries after a car accident.
He later returned for a few episodes in Season 17.
10.Graham Wardle left Heartland after the Season 14 premiere. In 2021, he told The Canadian Press, "I felt in my heart it was time to move in a new direction."
Amber Marshall, who plays his onscreen wife Amy Fleming, said that she learned he'd be leaving two years in advance. She said that, at first, she felt "hurt," but she ended up being "so proud of Graham for really understanding what direction he wanted to go in."
In the final episode of Season 13, a trespassing poacher shot Ty Borden. Then, in the Season 14 premiere, he died from complications from his gunshot wound.
11.In a 2024 Instagram post, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power actor Nazanin Boniadi said, "I made the choice not to return for season two of 'Rings of Power.' This was unrelated to my subsequent decision to prioritize my advocacy. Throughout my career, the values I have held most dear are honesty, empathy and integrity. My character Bronwyn was committed to these same ideals in striving for a fairer world, which is why I connected so deeply with her."
"I look forward to sharing my latest projects with you soon," she concluded.
In Season 1, Bronwyn recovered from being shot by an Orc's arrow. However, in Season 2, she died off-screen from the wound.
12.Aidan Turner exited Being Human (UK) because, before Season 3 wrapped, he was offered the role of Kili in the The Hobbit trilogy. However, from the moment series creator Toby Whithouse met Aidan, he "knew he was somebody [they'd] only be borrowing from movie stardom."
In 2011, Toby told Entertainment Weekly, "In the U.S. you’ll contract actors for seven seasons — we don’t have the finances to do that. So every time we start a new series, we have to renegotiate with the actors and see whom we have left. Sure enough, Peter Jackson came along and saw Aidan and whisked him away to New Zealand.
The thing is, I was kind of preparing myself for that on Series 2 when I wrote the sequence where he kills all those people on the train. I always knew that would ultimately be the reason for the character’s exit, whether it happened at the end of Series 3 or 33."
The script explored other possible endings for his character, but ultimately, Aidan felt death was the correct choice.
Toby said, "As a matter of fact, it was really Aidan who pushed for Mitchell to be killed, because he thought that was the appropriate ending for the character."
In Season 3, Episode 8, the vampire John Mitchell asked his best friend, the werewolf George Sands, to kill him to prevent him from killing again, fulfulling the prophecy that he'd be killed by a werewolf.
13.And finally, in 1956, Jean Hagen reportedly left The Danny Thomas Show (which was previously titled Make Room For Daddy) because she didn't get along with Danny Thomas, who played her onscreen husband, and wasn't happy with her role.
Danny reportedly decided to kill her character off because he was angry at Jean for leaving.
Margaret Williams died offscreen ahead of Season 4, leading her husband to consider sending their children to boarding school.
Which TV character's death emotionally impacted you the most? Let us know in the comments!
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. Other international suicide helplines can be found at befrienders.org. The Trevor Project, which provides help and suicide-prevention resources for LGBTQ youth, is 1-866-488-7386.
