‘The Walking Dead’s Steven Yeun Clarifies Reports That He Never Wants To Play Glenn Again

Steven Yeun’s Glenn Rhee on The Walking Dead became a fan-favorite character in the series’ first six seasons before he was killed off, with Yeun recently clarifying some of the comments he made about not wanting to reprise the role.

“Well, that was a very aggressively quoted version of what I said from that thing. I think I was just saying I don’t wanna go back to young Glenn,” Yeun shared with Larry King. “Not only could I not do that physically, I don’t look like the kid that I started as at 25, but also, mentally, that character was just such in a different place that, for me to go back there, I think it would be not good for anyone.”

Unlike other characters in The Walking Dead universe, Rhee was a primary character in the proper series, while characters like Morgan Jones abandoned the main series at times, allowing him to appear in Fear the Walking Dead.

An interview snippet from the actor can easily earn the headline “Steven Yeun Not Interested in Reprising Glenn,” while the actual interview specifically related to his character potentially getting a story that took place before his debut in the AMC series.

“Sometimes people pitch to me, ‘Dude, wouldn’t it be so cool if you did a Glenn origin movie?’” Yeun told IndieWire. “And I’m like, ‘No, that’d be horrible.’ That was so long ago. I was another person. I don’t think I could go back there. That person was inherently trapped in whatever people thought he was. I fed into it and I believed in it, too — until I got out.”

Taking into account both interviews, it doesn’t sound like Yeun is speaking in absolutes in regards to revisiting Glenn, just that there don’t seem to be many logisitical opportunities where that could happen. Additionally, in the years since the actor has left the series, he’s been able to pursue new projects that were previously unavailable to him.

“I left Walking Dead and I kind of had an existential crisis — not because I longed to be back there, but because I was made to feel the loneliness of life, which is that decisions aren’t made for you,” Yeun admitted. “You get swallowed up by whatever the thing that you’re a part of. You get out of that show, and you’re about to have a kid, and you’re an adult now. And you go, ‘Holy sh-t, I am in charge of my life. I am making choices. There’s no next step.”

With AMC confirming that it plans to launch more TV series and potentially movies, there are a number of avenues in which Glenn could somehow be featured, though it sounds like Yeun won’t be involved.

The Walking Dead airs Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.

Would you like to see Yeun return as Glenn? Let us know in the comments below!

[H/T YouTube, Larry King]