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7 TV Actors/Actresses Who Asked To Be Killed Off A Show

Cate

April 21, 2017

Source: TVLine

Netflix November 2020: What's Coming & Going

One would think that most actors/actresses would be dead set against having their characters killed off a hit show, but that isn’t always the case. Sometimes they grow out of a character or want to move on to other projects, so they ask producers to get rid of their character. Here are 7 TV actors/actresses who did the unthinkable – they asked to be killed off a show:

7. Connie Britton – Nashville

It was Connie Britton who decided that she wanted to leave the hit show Nashville and have her character, Rayna James, be killed off. “It was something that had been percolating over time, and there were lots of different reasons behind it. But my priority was really making sure that the timing was right. My priority has always been Nashville. So when the show was moved to CMT and we got these great new showrunners – Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick – I was [confident] the show would be in a good place,” she told TV Line.

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Netflix October 2020: What's Coming & Going

6. Raymond Cruz – Breaking Bad

Raymond Cruz – who played Tuco on Breaking Bad – found the character really difficult to play, so he asked producers to kill Tuco: “I asked them to kill me. Honestly, I wasn’t looking forward to coming back and doing the part. [Laughs]. 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.’”

Source: HNGN.com

Netflix September 2020: What's Coming & Going

5. Kal Penn – House

Kal Penn – who played Dr. Lawrence Kutner on House – asked for his character to be killed off the primetime drama so that he could accept a position with President Barack Obama’s administration, so producers had his character commit suicide. Initially, producers were concerned that he was unhappy with the show, but he maintained that he loved acting, but he also loved public service and was excited to go work at the White House.

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4. Dean Norris – Breaking Bad

Dean Norris asked Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilliam to kill his character, DEA agent Hank Schrader, off during the first half of season five so that he could go and shoot a comedy pilot. Unfortunately, Gilliam declined his request because Norris’ character’s arc was necessary to make the series’ final episodes complete.

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Netflix July 2020: What's Coming & Going

3. Daniel Gillies – Saving Hope

Fans were shocked when Dr. Joel Goran was killed off Saving Hope, but Daniel Gillies wasn’t because he was the one who asked to have his character killed. The actor – who had been filming the medical drama in Canada – wanted to move back to the United States and he was balancing two shows, Saving Hope and The Originals, and he was exhausted.

Source: CTV

Netflix June 2020: What's Coming & Going

2. T.R. Knight – Grey’s Anatomy

Grey’s Anatomy star T.R. Knight was asked to appear in season six of the show, but he refused and asked producers to write his character, George O’Malley, off the medical series. Knight later told Entertainment Weekly that he decided to leave Grey’s because executive producer Shonda Rhimes drastically cut his screen time during season five and expressed concern over his decision to come out publicly. “There just comes a time when it’s so clear that moving on is the best decision,” he told EW.

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1. Crystal Reed – Teen Wolf

After Crystal Reed’s Teen Wolf character Allison Argent was killed off at the end of season three, she told Entertainment Weekly that she wanted to have her character to die so that she could pursue other opportunities and because she was getting a bit old to be still playing a teenager. “I felt like, creatively, there were things I wanted to do differently, and I wanted to explore other avenues of film and TV,” she said. “I wanted to jump into different characters. You know, I’m 29. So I think the age difference was something I wanted to change as well because she’s 17. I love the show so much. So I went to [executive producer Jeff Davis] and talked about it and he said, ‘We’ll write you a great ending.’” And that they did!

Source: TVLine

Cate

Cate has a B.A. and an M.A. in English Literature and has been the Managing Editor of Fame10 for more than 6 years. Despite having a love for the works of Thomas Hardy, Leo Tolstoy and Lord Byron, she also has an intense fascination with pop culture. When she isn’t writing for Fame10, she’s planning her next big adventure in Southeast Asia.