The Walking Dead’s Juan Pareja Felt “Gutted” By Shocking Return

On Sunday night, The Walking Dead‘s Morales actor Juan Pareja joined ComicBook.com’s Quarantine Watch Party of the first two episodes of the series. Pareja’s character debuted in Episode 1×02 and stayed with the series until Rick’s group went to the CDC in Atlanta. For years, fans speculated how the actor could return to the series or appear on its Fear the Walking Dead spinoff. However, Pareja would shockingly reprise the role in Season 8, having become a part of Negan’s Saviors group and opposing Rick. Within minutes (and after a well-delivered monologue), Morales had an arrow from Daryl’s crossbow in his face. It was a frustrating moment for fans as they felt baited into excitement for the return and Pareja admits to have shared a similar feeling despite having nothing but gratitude for the series which helped kickstart his career.

Back in 2018, Pareja got a brief notice of the opportunity to reprise his role. “I didn’t really get too much of a heads up. I think, maybe two months before we started shooting,” Pareja recalls. “I think maybe in February or March, I got the call saying, ‘Hey, if we brought you back, would you be interested?’ And I was a little bit too much of an eager beaver, perhaps, and I was like, ‘Absolutely,’ without really getting the full scope of what they had in mind or how the story might develop or what they had planned for Morales, I was just super stoked and excited to get that call.”

Pareja whipped himself into impressive physical shape, dedicated to showcasing the transformation his character had undergone in the years since fans last saw him. “I was kind of in the dark, also, into how things would develop until I think maybe the week that we started shooting, or something like that, so, we got the script just beforehand and, sure, I was pretty gutted,” he admits. “And just felt like, ‘Oh, man, I don’t believe this!’ I was just very hopeful that there’d be a little bit more of a storyline developed, especially after such a long time, after not having seen Morales in a while. So, it was a little bit of a tough and bitter pill to swallow.”

The actor is not alone in that sentiment. Many fans were thrilled to see Morales return in the closing moments of Episode 8×02. When the character was quickly killed off in Episode 8×03, frustrations poured out onto social media and still get mentioned today.

Still, Pareja is quick to acknowledge that he is more grateful for the opportunity than anything else. “At the end of the day, you know, I feel really pleased with the opportunity to have come back and that scene was so epic, for me, at least, it was a big chunk of dialogue and pretty one-sided monologue, eight or nine pages that I was kind of like, ‘Oh my god, how am I gonna memorize this in time for this shoot?’” Pareja joked. “And there was definitely some times in the middle of that scene when my gun is pointed at Rick and I’m just like, ‘What’s the next line?’ But I think it all played out for the most part.”

Since his time on The Walking Dead, Pareja has gone on to recently land roles in FBI, Days Gone, State of Decay 2, Just Cause 4, Chicago Med, and more popular titles. Check out ComicBook.com’s full interview with the actor in the video above.

How did you feel about the short-lived return for Morales on The Walking Dead? Would you rather have seen him pop up on Fear the Walking Dead as a hardened survivor, with or without his family? Share your thoughts in the comment section or send them my way on Instagram and Twitter!