The Walking Dead Wasn't Chad L. Coleman's First Time Killing Zombies
During his short time on "The Walking Dead," Chad L. Coleman's Tyreese Williams became a real member of the zombie-surviving family, making his death as emotional for him as it was for the fans.
By the time Coleman joined the hit AMC series, many of his fellow cast members were experienced zombie hunters. However, many fans may not know that Coleman himself was already a veteran in the zombie-hunting industry before he brought Tyreese to life. Prior to "The Walking Dead," the actor lent his voice to Coach in Valve's legendary videogame "Left 4 Dead 2."
The cooperative first-person shooter puts players in the midst of the zombie apocalypse, choosing characters to fight through levels and waves of infected. Coach is one of the most iconic characters in the "Left 4 Dead" series. He is the oldest "Left 4 Dead 2" team member, a former high-school health teacher and football coach. Coleman's performance left a lasting impression on the player base, as Coach constantly talked to the other characters, motivating them to make it to the end of the level.
Coleman sees some similarities between his Walking Dead and Left 4 Dead roles
Chad L. Coleman has had plenty of diverse roles throughout his career, including "The Wire," "Superman & Lois," and "Always Sunny in Philadelphia," so it's pretty funny that he's played two different zombie hunters in "The Walking Dead" and "Left 4 Dead 2."
Tyreese Williams and Coach are fairly different characters, but Coleman looks fondly on both roles, even finding some similarities between the two other than his voice. During an appearance on "The VOC Podcast," the actor reminisced on his time playing Coach, calling it his stand-out voice-over role that fans still approach him about. After the hosts recognized Coach as the leader in "Left 4 Dead 2," Coleman revealed an interesting connection to his "Walking Dead" role, saying, "Truthfully, Tyreese was supposed to be the leader for his time there." Unfortunately, "The Walking Dead" cut his time short, killing Tyreese in Season 5 and sparking backlash from the fans.
While Tyreese never became the leader that Coach was, the two still share plenty of similarities. Coleman went on to describe Coach as "a very kind and relatable character," calling him a "warm dude" who's "very likable." Fans of both projects can easily write up a similar description for Tyreese, who spent most of his time on "The Walking Dead" caring for others, primarily the children of the group.