Many people are upset about the death of Carl Grimes on The Walking Dead including Norman Reedus.
“I was desperately unhappy about that,” Reedus tells EW in an interview. “I’ve seen Chandler grow up from a little boy. I’ve known that kid so long, and it always hurts when you lose a family member on the show. Chandler is definitely a family member to me. I was not happy about it. I always thought Chandler would be the last man standing, to be honest.”
Carl is alive in the comic book on which the show is based on, with many people theorizing Rick was going to get killed off with his son taking over. But that will no longer happen on the TV series. The Walking Dead creator and executive producer Robert Kirkman defended the movie to EW and promised that there won’t be as much story reworking because of Carl’s death as people think. “There are big, huge stories coming up that you might think will be massively altered because of the absence of Carl,” says Kirkman. “But we have known these storylines have been coming for years. There are plans in place to make it all work. The loss of Carl doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re going to be losing big swaths of the comic book story. It means that there will be some differences to them.”
However, Reedus is concerned how the loss of another original character will change the chemistry of the show people fell in love with. With Carl being killed off and Lennie James’ Morgan moving over to spin-off series Fear the Walking Dead at the end of season 8, that only leaves Andrew Lincoln, Melissa McBride and Reedus as the three original season 1 actors left.
“The people that started this show, to me, are the heart of the show,” says Reedus. “When you lose those key members, it’s such a big blow to the show, and to the fans, and to us that are there. Who’s left? There’s only a few of us left out of all those people. If you wanted to turn it into a totally different show, you get rid of those people. But if you want to hold onto what made the show special, you’ve got to be very careful what you do with those people.”
That said, Reedus is happy to see Riggs’ have a growing acting career.
“I love Chandler. He’s very talented, and he’s very driven, and he’s going to do great.” Riggs may do great without the show, but the question now becomes: How will the show do without Riggs?
Related:
- Georgia-Filmed ‘The Walking Dead’ Renewed for Another Season
- Robert Kirkman Defends The Future of ‘The Walking Dead’
- ‘The Walking Dead’ Production Company Fined Over Stuntman’s Death
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