The Walking Dead’s Cooper Andrews Thought Jerry Would Be Killed Off After a Few Episodes

Cooper Andrews, who has played fan-favorite Jerry since Season 7 of The Walking Dead, once believed his character would be killed off after “four or five” episodes of the zombie drama. The axe-wielding loyal adviser of former Kingdom leader King Ezekiel (Khary Payton), Jerry first appeared in the second episode of Season 7, “The Well,” when Carol (Melissa McBride) woke up at the community after being shot by one of Negan’s (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) Saviors. Some eight years later in-universe, Jerry, wife Nabila (Nadine Marissa) and children Aliyah, Ezra and Mariam have relocated from the shuttered Kingdom to the Hilltop colony, where Jerry continues to dutifully serve his king.

“My first season, I was like, ‘Alright, I’m gonna do four or five episodes, I’ll probably die at the end of it, and that’ll be fun. I’ll get to say I did The Walking Dead,’” Coopers said at GalaxyCon Richmond. “I had no clue of the reaction I would get from people, the character, I had no clue. I was just hoping people wouldn’t hate the guy, and just knowing that the little more that’s been happening every season, I’ve just been excited about and grateful for.”

During his time on The Walking Dead, now in its tenth season, Andrews treats it “like anyone else would.”

“I’m like, ‘Okay, I just want to know what happens. Oh, I’m in the scene? Great, I’m gonna ruin it, but what happens here?’” he said. “I just want to know what happens in the storylines. I wasn’t expecting anything, and I still don’t expect anything, but it’s just been cool.”

Similarly, co-star Nadia Hilker, who has played Magna since Season 9, previews every script fearing she’ll be killed off.

“You just never know. I mean, frankly, when I get a script, I don’t even read. I just go to my character to see if I’m getting killed off,” Hilker admitted. “And then when I read I didn’t, that’s when I actually read the script. But first, you’re just like, ‘Magna… okay.’ And then you read the script. You barely know anything, which makes it so much greater, but at the same time, so much harder.”

Jerry and Magna were among the heroes trapped in a cave teeming with walkers belonging to Whisperer leader Alpha (Samantha Morton) in the midseason 10 premiere, “Squeeze.”

Jerry — along with Daryl (Norman Reedus), Carol (Melissa McBride), Aaron (Ross Marquand) and Kelly (Angel Theory) — escaped, but Magna and Connie (Lauren Ridloff) were left trapped by a cave-in, a situation that is continuing to unfold in the second-half of The Walking Dead Season 10.

New episodes of TWD Season 10 premiere Sundays on AMC. For all things TWD, follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter.