10 Actors Who Demanded To Be Killed Off Popular TV Shows
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00:00 Few things hit harder in the world of TV than the death of a popular character.
00:04 Death can be a fantastic way of furthering a plot, adding wrinkles to other characters,
00:09 or providing a definitive ending to the arc of the person who lost their life.
00:13 The following ten performers all requested that their alter egos bite the dust, and for
00:18 the most part, their wishes were granted.
00:20 And so, with that in mind, I'm Ellie with What Culture, here with ten actors who demanded
00:25 to be killed off of popular TV shows.
00:28 Number 10.
00:30 Adewale Akinnoye-Agbaje in Lost
00:32 The show that had everyone questioning everything, Lost remains a strong talking point amongst
00:37 TV lovers, even though it wrapped up in 2010.
00:40 The island was full of memorable characters, but few had as big an impact in such a short
00:45 space of time than Mr. Echo.
00:47 Portrayed by British actor Adewale Akinnoye-Agbaje, Echo was a Nigerian former drug lord turned
00:53 priest who ended up stuck on the island after Flight 815 went down.
00:57 The strong and silent type, Echo became a firm favourite, as he was the one most comfortable
01:02 with life on the island.
01:03 The irony of that statement is that in real life, Akinnoye-Agbaje was far from content.
01:08 The actor had moved out to Hawaii to film the show, but really didn't like being there.
01:13 He wanted to move back home to London, and so asked for his character to be removed from
01:17 the show.
01:18 Producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse gave in to his demands for the character to
01:22 receive a tragic death, having him brutally murdered by the smoke monster.
01:26 Christ, tell us how you really feel about him leaving.
01:29 9.
01:30 Paul Wesley in The Vampire Diaries
01:33 People pretended that they watched The Vampire Diaries for the gripping plot or the compelling
01:37 characters, but they actually just stuck around for those sexy Salvatore brothers.
01:41 They can bite our necks any day.
01:43 Damon, played by Ian Somerhalder, and Stefan, played by Paul Wesley, became cultural icons
01:48 across the show's 171 episodes.
01:51 In the show's big finale, Damon got to live out the rest of his life happily with Elena.
01:56 As for Stefan, well, the younger brother elects to sacrifice himself to save the town of Mystic
02:01 Falls, reuniting with his loved ones in the afterlife.
02:05 It was a shocking moment for fans of the show, and it gets even more so once you know that
02:09 Wesley himself suggested this fate.
02:11 The actor wanted Stefan to suffer for his actions in life, and thought that death was
02:15 the only consequence he deserved.
02:17 He even told Seventeen, "I was very happy he died."
02:20 Stefan's demise makes a lot of sense in storyline, as well as giving the noble character a worthy
02:26 end.
02:27 Plus, it happened in the series finale, so it's not like Wesley missed out on any paychecks.
02:30 8.
02:31 Emma Colefield in Buffy the Vampire Slayer
02:34 Another death to take place in a series finale, another show with the word vampire in the
02:39 name.
02:40 Coincidence?
02:41 Yeah, probably.
02:42 The massively influential Buffy the Vampire Slayer aired its final episode in May of 2003,
02:47 and it went out in style.
02:49 Chosen featured a huge battle sequence between Buffy and her gang of assorted weirdos, and
02:54 the first evil.
02:55 The fight claims many victims, including several uber-vamps Spike and Anya Jenkins.
03:01 First introduced in the show's third season, Anya became a firm favourite, especially when
03:05 romantically paired with Xander.
03:07 Unfortunately for the long-time character, his beloved gets sliced open by a vampire
03:11 in this episode's giant fight.
03:13 Emma Colefield, the actor behind Anya, actually approached series creator and dodgy man Joss
03:18 Whedon about bringing the character to an end.
03:21 At this point, there was a chance the show could have continued, but Colefield was ready
03:25 to move on.
03:26 "I was all for it," she said of the character's death.
03:28 "I thought that would be a poetic way to have her end, sacrificing herself for people
03:32 she could never understand.
03:34 We couldn't have put it better ourselves."
03:36 7.
03:37 Aiden Turner in Being Human
03:39 Usually, it's never a good sign when a role gets recast on a TV show.
03:43 However, in the case of British supernatural drama Being Human, it might have been one
03:47 of the best things to ever happen to it.
03:50 Aiden Turner took over the role of vampire John Mitchell on the show after the pilot
03:54 episode.
03:55 Turner really made the most of this chance, helping the show become extremely popular.
03:59 His stock as an actor immediately went on the rise, which is ultimately what killed
04:02 off his character on Being Human.
04:05 Turner got the role of Keeley in the Hobbit series of films, and announced he was leaving
04:09 the show.
04:10 He wanted Mitchell to be killed off, thinking it would bring his arc to a satisfying end.
04:14 And so that's exactly what happened.
04:16 After going on a massacre, Mitchell asks his friend George, a werewolf, to kill him out
04:20 of mercy.
04:21 George obliges, like any decent friend would.
04:23 Damn, between this and The Hobbit, Aiden Turner's characters don't have the best of luck, do
04:28 they?
04:29 6.
04:30 Jessalyn Gilsig in Vikings
04:32 As much as we wish it didn't, sometimes real life can get in the way of a great TV show.
04:36 That's what happened to the History Channel's axe-swinging, skull-crushing, mead-drinking
04:40 extravaganza Vikings.
04:42 More specifically, it's what happened to the character of Siggy Haraldson.
04:46 The wife of Earl Haraldson, Siggy eventually grows incredibly fond of series lead Ragnar
04:50 Lothbrok and his family, so much so that when Ragnar's children are in danger, she sacrifices
04:56 herself to save them.
04:58 She pulls them out of a freezing lake in the show's third season, only to succumb to the
05:02 water herself.
05:03 The death was a tragic one, leaving many fans mourning the beloved character.
05:07 Actor Jessalyn Gilsig revealed that she requested her character take the plunge so she could
05:11 focus on matters outside of acting.
05:13 She was facing some personal issues and felt that she wasn't giving her family enough support.
05:18 This led to her deciding to move out of Ireland, where Vikings was filmed, thus ending her
05:22 tenure on the show.
05:24 5.
05:25 Frank Delane in Fear the Walking Dead
05:27 Fear the Walking Dead first aired in 2015 and served as a prequel to AMC's monster
05:33 zombie hit.
05:34 The narrative began during the early days of the apocalypse, but it has since caught
05:38 up to its older sibling, with several stories running parallel.
05:41 It also features main show star Morgan, which is great because Lenny James is never a bad
05:46 thing.
05:47 Next on the show is Nick Clark, as played by Frank Delane.
05:50 Well, that should actually be "was" Nick Clark, because he got himself shot in the show's
05:55 fourth season.
05:56 What did he go and do that for?
05:57 According to showrunner Andrew Chambliss, it was because Delane wanted to pursue other
06:01 opportunities.
06:02 He said, "One of the first things we were tasked with when we came on to run season
06:05 four was to really find a story that would give Nick a fitting send-off."
06:09 To be fair, they definitely achieved this, as Nick's death was a really surprising
06:12 moment on the show.
06:14 As for Delane, he got to star in a series alongside Claire Danes and Tom Hiddleston,
06:18 so it was a win for everyone.
06:20 4.
06:21 John Francis Daly in Bones
06:23 For all the corpses that turn up at the Jeffersonian, very few main characters on Bones have actually
06:28 bitten the dust over the years.
06:30 Vincent Nigel Murray, the world's most annoying intern, famously met his end at the hands
06:34 of a sniper, and the other major casualty on the show was the team's resident psychiatrist,
06:40 Lance Sweets.
06:41 The lovable shrink became entranced in the show's DNA, which is why it came as such
06:45 a shock when he was gunned down in the premiere episode of season 10.
06:49 Why didn't he just use his telekinesis to block the bullet?
06:52 Wait, that's psychic, not psychiatrist.
06:54 All the mind powers in the world couldn't have saved Sweets, as his real-life counterpart
06:59 actually requested that he snuff it.
07:02 John Francis Daly was given the opportunity to direct the 2015 film Vacation, and Bones
07:07 simply got in the way.
07:09 Much like the man who killed his on-screen persona, Daly ruthlessly murdered his time
07:13 on the show.
07:14 To give the man some credit, he's been doing very well for himself behind the scenes.
07:18 He was a writer on Spider-Man Homecoming, and he's directing the upcoming Dungeons
07:21 and Dragons movie.
07:22 He's living every nerd's dream.
07:25 Number 3.
07:26 Julian Glover in Game of Thrones
07:28 With the astronomical frequency of character deaths on Game of Thrones, you'd think that
07:32 an actor wouldn't get the chance to actually ask to be killed off.
07:36 However, that's the exact situation Grand Maester Pycelle found himself in on the HBO
07:41 juggernaut.
07:42 Pycelle was one of the most powerful men in all of Westeros, as a member of the small
07:45 council and trusted advisor to several kings.
07:48 He, like most other powerful people in Thrones, meets a brutal end when he is repeatedly stabbed
07:53 by his replacement Qyburn's little birds.
07:56 Actor Julian Glover must have been oddly thrilled to read the page in the script when this happened,
08:01 as he was not having a good time playing the corrupt old man.
08:04 He was unhappy that his part on the show had been severely reduced, and that he was constantly
08:08 belittled by Cersei.
08:10 In an interview, he remarked, "I went to them, the producers, and said, 'Look, I don't want
08:14 to do this anymore.
08:15 It's not interesting to go on doing this.'
08:17 And what's going to happen to him?
08:18 A pretty boss way to quit a show, all things said and done."
08:22 Number 2.
08:23 Patrick Dempsey in Grey's Anatomy
08:25 If you've ever heard the words "Grey's Anatomy" used in that order, then you've also definitely
08:29 heard the word "McDreamy" shortly thereafter.
08:32 Unless you've only ever heard of the 19th century medical textbook, in which case you
08:36 must be extremely confused right now.
08:38 McDreamy was the nickname given to Derek Shepard, one of the leading figures on the hit show
08:42 across its first 11 seasons.
08:45 He was extremely popular, somewhat down to the strong writing of his character, but mostly
08:49 because he was really hot.
08:51 Fans' McDreams were shattered when Derek met his end in a car crash.
08:55 Meredith Grey was even pregnant with his child at the time.
08:58 How could Shonda Rhimes do this to us?
09:00 Well, actually, it was actor Patrick Dempsey who did this to us.
09:04 He was the one who said he wanted out, actually saying that he wished he'd left the show
09:08 sooner.
09:09 It was a very time-consuming gig, and the star just wanted to spend a little more time
09:12 with his family.
09:13 But what about your family on the show, Patrick?
09:16 What about Meredith and your unborn child?
09:17 What about them?
09:18 Okay, breathe.
09:19 It's just a TV show.
09:22 Number 1.
09:23 Dean Norris in Breaking Bad
09:24 On a show stuffed with great characters, it's a real testament to actor Dean Norris that
09:28 Hank Schrader stood out.
09:30 A member of the DEA, Hank was often held up as a mirror to his brother-in-law Walter White,
09:35 and is one of the many people with lives that Walt is jealous of.
09:38 He starts out as an obnoxious jock, but viewers learn to love his more vulnerable traits as
09:43 the series went on.
09:44 Then, in the show's final season, Hank came face to face with Jack Welker.
09:48 After a brave last stand against the Neo-Nazis, Hank makes one last defiant speech before
09:53 Jack murders him right in front of Walt.
09:56 It's a fantastic scene and a heroically fitting end to his story.
10:00 In reality, the reason why this happened was far less exciting.
10:03 Norris got cast in Under the Dome, so needed to leave Breaking Bad to go film that.
10:08 He asked the showrunners to kill him off in the first part of the show's last run, to
10:12 which they said no.
10:13 Thankfully, that season was split in two anyway, so Dean had his cake and ate it too, and we
10:18 got to see the most badass departure in Breaking Bad history.
10:22 And that concludes our list.
10:23 If you think we missed any, then do let us know in the comments below, and while you're
10:27 there, don't forget to like and subscribe and tap that notification bell.
10:30 Also, head over to Twitter and follow us there, and I can be found across various social medias
10:34 just by searching Ellie Littlechild.
10:36 I've been Ellie with WhatCulture, I hope you have a magical day, and I'll see you real
10:40 soon.
10:40 [BLANK_AUDIO]