The Walking Dead: Chandler Riggs Says It "Sucked" Being Written Out
Paul Dailly
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The Walking Dead has lost a string of series regulars of late, and fans are still up in arms about the way Carl Grimes exited the AMC hit.
Chandler Riggs, who played Carl has now opened up about his feelings about the exit and how it was handled.
“It wasn’t just Carl dying, it was also me leaving the show and kind of moving on to other things,” Riggs revealed at San Jose Fan Fest after being asked about filming his death scene.
"So in many ways, it was pretty symbolic just for the cast and crew, just for me to be leaving the show in the first place, it was a pretty big deal for all of us," he continued.
"And yeah, it sucked, and it was many long days, but I’m really happy with how it turned out, and I’m really happy with my performances, and I’m happy with how I left the show.”
Related: The Walking Dead Season 9 Episode 8 Review: Evolution
While there were initial reports that Riggs was shocked to be written out of the series, it sounds like the 19-year-old is ready to move on to the next chapter of his life.
Leaving the show after nearly eight full seasons “opened up so many doors to so many more opportunities,” Riggs revealed.
“Over the last year I’ve just spent a ton of time refining my craft and my acting, and I’m so excited to go on and do more projects where I can really showcase what I can do.”
His exit also means that he can watch the show as a fan without knowing what's coming up, but it was “kind of weird at first, not really knowing what’s gonna happen.”
Related: The Walking Dead: How Is It Holding Up Without Andrew Lincoln?
The Walking Dead Season 9 has been a transitional one for the series. First, Andrew Lincoln bowed out as Rick Grimes after nine seasons as a series regular.
This also coincided with Lauren Cohan departing as a series regular, and then there are some new villains to prove the show is royally switching things up.
The new villains are The Whisperers, and their first order of business was killing Jesus (Tom Payne), despite the character going on to have a much bigger role in the comics than he did on the show.
Oh yes, the TV show is all about deviating from the source material, it seems.
What are your thoughts on the comments from Chandler?
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Remember you can watch The Walking Dead online right here via TV Fanatic.
The Walking Dead returns Sunday, February 10 at 9/8c
Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.
