Norman Reedus Begged Danai Gurira Not to Leave The Walking Dead

Norman Reedus says he “begged” longtime co-star Danai Gurira not to leave The Walking Dead in its coming tenth season.

“I’ve been begging her to stay since we started the season. She’s such a strong character, and she’s such a sweet lady, and she’s fun to work with, and she’s always on point,” Reedus said of Gurira at San Diego Comic-Con.

“She shows up on set for a tiny scene with a notebook full of notes. She’s a joy to be around. I’m gonna miss her as much as I miss Rick, to be honest. She’s awesome.”

Former showrunner Scott Gimple, who now oversees TWD Universe as chief content officer, promised Gurira and Michonne still have “amazing” things ahead.

“I came onto the show in the second season, the core cast was already there, but Danai came on in the third season, and I was there for that. To see her go through her whole arc, and even though that was my second season, it was weird, I feel like within the show I kind of grew up with her,” Gimple said.

“And I really enjoyed telling the Michonne stories and really working them out with Danai in a lot of ways. She has some things that she’s working on now that kind of put her in a writing place, and I’m freaking loving it because I get to see her go through those struggles herself [laughs].”

Gurira for the first time confirmed her exit during TWD‘s Hall H panel at Comic-Con, saying her leaving was “about my calling and other things I feel called to and the opportunities I’ve had through the other things I do as a creator of work.”

“She has some amazing things ahead of her, and we’re not completely done with her, I’ll just say that,” Gimple continued, possibly hinting at Gurira joining Rick Grimes star Andrew Lincoln in The Walking Dead movies.

“I mean, I will say we’re not completely done with anyone who comes and goes on the show, and you guys will see that as we move on. But she has some amazing things ahead and in some ways she’s suffering like [showrunner Angela Kang] and I suffered, and that’s awesome.”

The Walking Dead Season 10 premieres Sunday, October 6 on AMC.