5 actors who asked for their TV character to be killed off
Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, Lost… they’re just a few of the shows actors would kill to land a role in. However, for some of those lucky enough to get the job, they couldn’t get away soon enough. Here are 5 TV actors you may be surprised to learn asked for their character to be killed off.
1. Dean Norris – “Hank Schrader” on Breaking Bad
His character was beloved by fans of the show, but the actor who played Hank, Dean Norris, didn’t expect to last till the very end. In fact, he even suggested to the producers that he should be killed off mid-way through the last season. “I said, ‘Would it be interesting if Hank died in the first eight?'" Norris told CBS. “[The network] said, ‘No, we kind of need you for the last eight. We’ve been building that up for the last five years’ [...] Obviously, I’m glad that they did.”
2. Sophie Turner – “Sansa Stark” on Game of Thrones
She’s plays one of the last remaining members of the Stark family on the hit HBO show, but Sophie Turner would like her character Sansa to go out in a blaze of glory. “I don’t want to survive,” she told The Wall Street Journal. “If you’re on Game of Thrones and you don’t have a cool death scene, then what’s the point?”
3. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje – “Mr Eko” on Lost
The enigmatic Mr Eko quickly became a fan favourite, but the showrunner’s grand plans for the character went out the window after the actor who played him, unhappy with having to live in Hawaii to work on the show and still reeling from the deaths of his parents, asked to be killed off. “Our Mr. Eko plans very quickly derailed,” executive producer Damon Lindelof explained. “Adewale’s unhappiness was almost instantaneous. On his second episode, he was expressing extreme dissatisfaction.”
4. John Francis Daley – “Dr Lance Sweets” on Bones
Daley, who played the loveable Dr Sweets, wanted to make the switch to directing, so his character was killed off. “The directing job was not something that I could walk away from,” Daley told TVLine.com. “It was such a huge opportunity. It feels like a good next step in my career and my life; I always dreamed of being a director. [But] it was a sacrifice for sure.”
5. Dan Stevens – “Matthew Crawley” on Downton Abbey
Fans were utterly heartbroken when Lady Mary’s doting hubby and father-to-be, Matthew, was killed off. However, it was Stevens’ wishes, as he wanted to move into film and theatre acting. “From a personal point of view, I wanted a chance to do other things,” he told The Telegraph. “It is a very monopolizing job. So, there is a strange sense of liberation at the same time as great sadness because I am very, very fond of the show and always will be.”