'Walking Dead' Mid-Season Finale: The Shocking Death of Jesus & More | THR News - video Dailymotion

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"I spent a long time hoping my character was going to have more to do," the outgoing series regular tells The Hollywood Reporter about the reasons behind the shocking midseason finale death.

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00:00For Walking Dead fans, Sunday's mid-season finale ended with a massive shock.

00:09But if you aren't caught up on the show yet, warning, major, major spoilers ahead.

00:13So the latest episode of The Walking Dead came as a surprise to both fans of the show and the comics,

00:19as it ended with the death of the character Jesus, played by actor Tom Payne,

00:23a fan favorite figure who remains alive and well in the comics.

00:27Jesus' season 9 death comes at the hands of the Whisperers, the newest enemies in the AMC zombie universe.

00:33In the comics, on which the TV series is based, Jesus encounters the Whisperers multiple times and lives to tell the tale.

00:40This wasn't a normal bird. It's looking for me.

00:48Keep them together.

00:50In a candid conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Payne, who has been with the series since season 6,

00:56says he was happy to leave the show following years of frustration over the direction of his character.

01:02In Payne's mind, the character's final stand was much closer to his vision for Jesus all along,

01:06making it a note he's more than happy to go out on.

01:09He told THR,

01:10I know people will be disappointed and shocked, but I'm happy.

01:14He also said,

01:15When they came to me with the idea, I said, as long as it's a really cool moment, let's do it.

01:27And showrunner Angela Kang said of the moment,

01:29we knew something epic had to mark the real arrival of the Whisperers into the story.

01:34There's a character death that happens in the comic books when it happens,

01:37but we've often deviated from the comics and this was something we felt needed to be a surprise.

01:43But even beyond The Walking Dead, Jesus is one of the most iconic LGBTQ characters on genre TV.

01:49Kang said of the decision to kill him off the series,

01:51We have a lot of wonderful diversity and representation on the show and that's something we're very proud of.

01:57For a show that deals with issues of life and death and people who have heroic and surprising ends,

02:02it's hard because almost anyone you kill on our show or write out is going to be part of some underrepresented group on TV.

02:09I wish all of TV would step up as well.

02:11For the full interviews with Tom Payne and Angela Kang, go to THR.com slash walking dead.

02:16Until next time, for The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Tiffany Taylor.

02:21We'll see you next time.

'Walking Dead' Mid-Season Finale: The Shocking Death of Jesus & More | THR News

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