Why Tyler James Williams' Reaction To Leaving The Walking Dead Made Him Feel Ashamed
The Hollywood Reporter's 2023 Comedy Actor Roundtable reunited Tyler James Williams and Steven Yeun, who had previously worked together on the AMC zombie apocalypse drama "The Walking Dead." During the roundtable, Williams spoke about his last day on the show and how he didn't want to leave, a feeling he was ashamed of. "As an actor, you go from project to project, and it's just part of the world, so you should be used to just working with people, detaching, and all of that," he said.
Williams added that it was difficult to let go of that emotion on his last day of shooting — but that that turned out to be a blessing in disguise since it informed his character's emotional state in his last moments, which were spent pleading with Glenn (Yeun) not to let him go.
Once the scene was over, however, the actor gave in to his emotions. "You're in this moment, and everything that you've been feeling all day, you then realize, that was the point," he said. "The point was to get you right there to that time and not judge it and just let it be what it is."
Williams felt a close bond with people on the show that still endures
Asked by the Comedy Actor Roundtable moderator why leaving "The Walking Dead" felt different, Tyler James Williams responded that the connections he'd made on the show felt particularly strong. "I think that that show, particularly for me, didn't feel like a transient show. It felt like something where I made real connections with real people," he explained.
Both Williams and Steven Yeun agreed that the show's cast and crew felt like a family, with Williams explaining that bonds of that nature don't simply dissolve when the shooting is complete. "It's still a thing that lives in you, and you feel connected to people still, so that's what was difficult, I think, in leaving that and letting that one go," he finished. In an interview with Collider, Williams elaborated on the bond he formed with Yeun while shooting Noah's death, which is considered to be among the saddest deaths on "The Walking Dead," noting that Yeun comforted him in his subsequent breakdown.
Williams also said that cast members who weren't involved in the scene also came to see it, naming Lauren Cohan, Alanna Masterson, and Christian Serratos specifically, adding that he signed on to the spy dramedy "Whiskey Cavalier" simply because Cohan is in it. "I've told my managers, agents this, and honestly, any producers should hear it, probably, if they want to get me to do their project, get me one of those people who [were] in that room," he shared, saying that he'd willingly work on anything with those cast members again.