Life After The Walking Dead
In the zombie apocalypse, no one is safe. And it's because of this simple fact that the cast of The Walking Dead has become a bit of a revolving door.
But life goes on and, when an actor's time warding off walkers comes to its typically brutal end, there are more gigs to be had. While they all attempt to use their newfound fame from starring on one of TV's most popular shows to catapult themselves to higher-profile roles, some have had more success than others.
This is life after The Walking Dead.
Emma Bell—"Amy Harrison"
How They Died: Poor Amy, she was bitten by a zombie all the way back in season one. Her reanimated corpse was put down by sister Andrea.
Projects Since: After The Walking Dead, Bell joined the Dallas revival, popped up on Law & Order: SVU and American Horror Story, among other projects.
Jeffrey DeMunn—"Dale Horvath"
How They Died: Attacked at night while on patrol by a walker that dumb Carl had secretly provoked earlier in the day, poor Dale was disembowled and then put out of his misery by Daryl with a shot to the head.
Projects Since: After The Walking Dead, DeMunn popped up with guest appearances in Chicago Fire, The Good Wife and The Affair, among others, as well as a series regular role in 2014's Mob City. He's currently recurring on Showtime's Billions.
Jon Bernthal—"Shane Walsh"
How They Died: After trying to kill Rick to gain control over the group and have Lori to himself, Shane got himself stabbed in the chest. After his immediate reanimation confirmed that you needn't be bitten to turn into a walker, he was shot by young Carl.
Project Since: Bernthal went on to star in the short-lived Mob City alongside Jeffrey DeMunn immediately after The Walking Dead. After appearances in films such as The Wolf of Wolf Street, Fury and The Accountant, among others, he landed the role of Frank Castle—AKA The Punisher—for season two of Netflix's Daredevil. Up next is a Netflix series of his very own entitled, you guessed it, The Punisher.
Sarah Wayne Callies—"Lori Grimes"
How They Died: Pregnant Lori went into labor during season three while the prison was under attack by walkers. Knowing that either she or the baby would die, she forced a horrified Maggie to cut her open and save the baby. She died during the procedure and was shot in the head by Carl before she could reanimate.
Project Since: After appearances in a handful of films, including Into the Storm and Pay the Ghost, Wayne Callies landed a starring role in USA's Colony. She'll also be reprising her breakout role of Dr. Sara Tancredi in FOX's Prison Break revival.
Michael Rooker—"Merle Dixon"
How They Died: After acting as a force of antagonism for our heroes, Merle had a change of heart and came to the good side just in time to sacrifice himself in season three with an attack on David Morrison's villainous Governor. He was shot in the chest and later found by a devastated Daryl, who put down the walker version of his brother.
Projects Since: After The Walking Dead, Rooker appeared in the film Brother's Keeper as well as the Marvel blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy. Up next is more film work with The Belko Experiment and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
Laurie Holden—"Andrea Harrison"
How They Died: After her relationship with the Governor turned sour and he held her captive, she was left in a locked room with a dying Milton. After getting bitten, she managed to escape and shoot herself in the head.
Projects Since: After The Walking Dead, Holden appeared in the ill-fated Dumb and Dumber To before making guest appearances in Major Crimes, Chicago Fire and The Americans.
Scott Wilson—"Hershel Greene"
How They Died: After surviving a walker bite via leg amputation, Hershel died at the hands of the Governor during his attack on the prison when he was beheaded as his daughters were forced to watch helplessly.
Projects Since: After The Walking Dead, Wilson made guest appearances on Bosch and Damien before landing the role of Prarie's adoptive father Abel in Netflix's headscratcher The OA.
David Morrissey—"The Governor"
How They Died: During his final attack on the prison, The Governor was stabbed in the chest by Michonne and left to die before being shot in the head by Lily.
Projects Since: Morrissey went on to roles on Extant and The Missing, and will be seen in the upcoming Amazon Prime original Britannia.
Kyla Kenedy—"Mika Samuels"
How They Died: Little Mika was killed by her sister Lizzie, who was having trouble grasping the whole zombie thing.
Projects Since: After The Walking Dead, Kenedy went on to recur on The Night Shift and currently stars in Speechless on ABC.
Brighton Sharbino—"Lizzie Samuels"
How They Died: After killing her sister Mika, Lizzie was shot by Carol.
Projects Since: Sharbino guest starred on Once Upon a Time and had film roles in Growing Up Smith, Miracles From Heaven and the recently released Bitch.
Chad L. Coleman—"Tyreese Williams"
How They Died: While attempting to find Noah's family, Tyreese was bitten on the arm by one of the reanimated corpses. After an arm amputation, he dies from a loss of blood and is put down by Michonne so he won't reanimate
Projects Since: Coleman has does guest work on several TV shows since The Walking Dead, including Freakish, Arrow and The Expanse. Up next for him is the TV movie Michael Jackson: Searching for Neverland.
Tyler James Williams—"Noah"
How They Died: Noah was quite literally torn apart by walkers.
Projects Since: Williams currently stars in CBS's Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders and had guest roles on Ballers and Instant Mom.
Lawrence Gilliard Jr.—"Bob Stookey"
How They Died: Oh, Bob. He was bit by a walker, had his leg eaten by cannibals. He died with Sasha by his side and was put down before becoming a zombie.
Projects Since: After The Walking Dead, Gilliard Jr. appeared on Graceland, The Good Wife and will be seen in the upcoming HBO series The Deuce.
Andrew J. West—"Gareth "
How They Died: Gareth, everybody's favorite handsome cannibal, was hacked to death by Rick Grimes.
Projects Since: After The Walking Dead, West appeared in several guest spots including Hot in Cleveland and Under the Dome. He recently recurred on Freeform's Dead of Summer. He'll next appear in the two-part season finale of Once Upon a Time.
Emily Kinney—"Beth Greene"
How They Died: After being held captive in the hospital by Dawn, in a final act of defiance, Beth stabbed her captor with a pair of scissors and is accidentally shot in the head.
Projects Since: Kinney would go on to guest star in several TV shows after The Walking Dead, including The Flash, Arrow, Masters of Sex and The Knick. She was a series regular in ABC's ill-fated Conviction, as well.
Tovah Feldshuh—"Deanna Monroe"
How They Died: The former leader of Alexandria was bitten by a walker and was prepared to take her own life, but decided to take out some zombies instead. Her undead self was put down by her son, Spencer.
Projects Since: Feldshuh began recurring on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend during her Walking Dead tenure and has continued popping up as Naomi Bunch, Rebecca's mother. She recently reprised the character of Danielle Melnick, her Emmy-nominated Law & Order role, for Chicago Justice.
Alexandra Breckenridge—"Jessie Anderson"
How They Died: While trying to escape the walkers who took over Alexandria, Breckenridge's character Jessie saw her son get eaten and then herself succumbed to the zombie horde.
Projects Since: Breckenridge continued her voice work on Family Guy, did a guest spot in the Pure Genius pilot and is now recurring on NBC's hit drama This Is Us as Sophie, Kevin's ex-wife/current girlfriend.
Merritt Wever—"Dr. Denise Cloyd"
How They Died: Poor Denise was shot in the eye by Dwight—with Darryl's crossbow!
Projects Since: Wever appeared opposite Charlize Theron and Javier Bardem in The Last Face and will be seen in the Netflix series Godless.
Michael Cudlitz—"Sgt. Abraham Ford"
How They Died: Technically, Abraham died in the season six finale when Jeffrey Dean Morgan's Negan bludgeoned him to death with Lucille, his bat covered in barbed wire, but his death wasn't seen until the season seven premiere.
Projects Since: Cudlitz has kept a low profile since his tenure on The Walking Dead ended, mostly so as not to spoil the show. He appeared in an episode of Kings of Con, returned to The Walking Dead and is filming a new pilot: The Trustee.
Steven Yeun—"Glenn Rhee"
How They Died: Almost immediately after Abraham was bludgeoned by Negan, Glenn met the same fate as Maggie looked on in horror after Daryl lost his cool and attacked the villain despite being explicitly warned not to.
Projects Since: Yeun has kept a relatively low profile since leaving the series, mostly so as to not spoil the show. He's done voice work in both Trollhunters and Voltron, as well as starred in the film Mayhem. He'll be seen in the upcoming Joon-ho Bong film Okja, opposite Tilda Swinton and Paul Dano.
Austin Nichols—"Spencer Monroe"
How They Died: Disemboweled by Negan after trying to turn on Rick. Lesson learned, Spencer! Rick later took care of the zombie version of Spencer.
Projects Since: After The Walking Dead, Nichols checked in to Bates Motel to play Sam Loomis.
Sonequa Martin-Green—"Sasha Williams"
How They Died: After being held captive by Negan, she tricked the bad guy into letting her ride to Alexandria in a coffin, swallowed some poison during the trip, and was full walker by the time he opened the coffin during his big speech to Rick and the gang. When the dust settled, she was found by Jesus and Maggie and put down.
Projects Since: Martin-Green left the series after being cast at the lead in the upcoming CBS All Access series Star Trek: Discovery. She'll make history as the franchise's first female minority lead ever.