There have been a lot of memorable moments on The Walking Dead over the years, many of them the deaths of liked, sometimes disliked and even beloved characters. Perhaps the moment that stands out the most to some fans was the death of Beth Greene during Season 5, not only due to the shocking way it played out with Dawn and Daryl, but because of the way the scene following her demise was shown on screen.
At San Diego Comic-Con this year, actor Norman Reedus recounted the day he filmed the famous scene in which he carries Beth’s body out of the hospital, taking her to the other survivors. He spoke about really thinking about the way the scene would play out and wanting Daryl to look as if he had been weeping for a long time rather than was freshly grieving Beth.
So how does an actor look as if he’s been crying for hours? Well, he cries for hours. Per Norman Reedus:
You remember me carrying Beth out? Remember that? I wanted it to look like I was exhausted of tears during that and not crying while I was doing that. So, the crew on our show let me sit in the hallway on one of those empty chests and just bawl for like an hour and a half. And that’s how cool the crew is on our show. Nobody interrupted, I’d see people going by, but they’d just give you your space to do something. I think it’s always been like that on the show.
The scene ended up being a major moment in Walking Dead history, and I’m sure it played out even more effectively for audiences thanks to the careful attention to detail the cast and crew took with Beth’s final arc on the show.
Beth’s death is routinely listed as one of the most shocking deaths on the show, particularly given most of the first chunk of the zombie-oriented series was spent searching for her character. It wasn’t clear she would die, and it was emotionally devastating when she did and in the manner it happened.
The Walking Dead is heading into Season 10 at this point. You’d hope it’s a well-oiled machine at this point, but from what Norman Reedus said at Comic-Con, it’s always been a show where people on set sort of intuitively understand what needs to happen to get the job done. He elaborated:
If someone has an emotional day, it’s not a goof around day, and everyone gives each other that space.
Ultimately, we’re going to have some more emotional moments this coming season. At the panel we saw a badass trailer for Season 10, we also learned the sad news that series original character Michonne will be exiting the AMC drama after the upcoming season, as Danai Gurira moves on to other projects. I wasn’t sure she was going to admit the news, because she paused when asked. However, she tearily responded that she needs to move on to work on other projects moving forward.
We'll have to wait and see how it all plays out when The Walking Dead returns on October 6 this year. To see what else is coming up, take a look at our fall TV premiere schedule.
