The Walking Dead's Rick Grimes star gives verdict on brutal death: 'Everybody was weeping'

The Walking Dead sparked controversy back in 2016 when it killed off one of its most beloved characters, Glenn (Steven Yeun), in a brutal scene that left viewers in tears. Nearly a decade later, as the controversial moment still lives in infamy, the show’s star Andrew Lincoln has spoken out about the shocking character death. 

Andrew, 50, portrays Rick Grimes on the AMC cult favourite show and acted alongside Steven right from the very beginning. Many fans viewed Glenn as the heart and soul of the show, but that didn’t prevent the writers from subjecting the character to a brutal fate.

Glenn won the sympathy of audiences everywhere as he fought for his life against packs of deadly zombies - all while falling in love with Lauren Cohan’s Maggie. However, nothing could save him from the fate that awaited him in Robert Kirkman’s original comic book series. 

Just like in the source material, the show decided to have Glenn die brutally at the hands of sadistic leader Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Viewers were horrified as they watched Negan bash Glenn’s head in with a barbed-wire-wrapped baseball bat in order to break group leader Rick’s spirit.

Many fans found the whole sequence sickening and - in a new interview - even Andrew wondered if they might have gone too far. Speaking to Empire, he said: “I do still think [Glenn’s death] might have been when we over-egged the omelette.

“Maybe it was lingering too much,” he added, before confessing that filming the scenes has been among “the most intense nights of shooting I’ve ever been part of.”

He went on to add that Negan actor Jeffrey, having been thrown in right at the deep end, is actually “one of the nicest guys you’re ever going to meet, playing one of the most unpleasant characters.” 

Andrew continued: “He had to do this extraordinary monologue on his first day at work, and everybody was on their knees and weeping when they weren’t on camera.

“[Jeffrey] came over and went, ‘Is this normal?’ I went, ‘Yeah, everybody just keeps going.’ It was an extraordinary night.”

Despite exiting the show back in 2018 around season 9, Andrew decided to reprise his role as Rick in the spin-off series The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live.

The new show explores the aftermath of his unexpected departure from the main series, as he is reunited with his lost love Michonne (Danai Gurira).

The original series of The Walking Dead, starring Andrew as its lead, first aired in 2010 and finally concluded after 11 seasons in 2021.

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live and every season of The Walking Dead is available to stream on Sky and NOW.