The Walking Dead: Steven Yeun Says Glenn’s Death May Affect Him For Life

Saying goodbye is always tough. This week, The Walking Dead and its fans said goodbye to one of the series’ most beloved characters, Glenn Rhee.

Glenn was always the heart, soul, and voice of reason for Rick and the group, and his departure is going to leave a huge void for audiences going forward. It was an emotional moment for fans of the show, but it seems to be even harder on the actors themselves.

Lauren Cohan, who plays Glenn’s wife Maggie on the show, broke down in tears when asked about the premiere back at New York Comic Con. The emotion of losing her fictional husband became so real that she struggled to hold it together.

If you ask Steven Yeun, leaving the show as Glenn himself has proved equally as difficult.

Steven appeared on the most recent cover of Entertainment Weekly, and he opened up to the magazine about how Glenn’s death has affected him.

At one point, Yeun noted that he wouldn’t be over this for a long time. After playing a character, and being part of a family, for so long, just dropping the persona can be extremely emotional.

If you think it takes an actor a set amount of time to move on from a role like this, you may be right in some instances. In the case of Steven Yeun, he thinks it may take much longer. Here’s what the actor had to say:

“This is something that will hit me maybe a couple of months from now,” he says. “Or maybe it’ll hit me next year. Maybe it’ll be when I’m 45 and all of a sudden I’m just crying in my kitchen and I can’t explain why. At that point, it was beautiful in that it was so easy for me to get emotional. Personally, for me, I’m not one to cry all the time. I don’t cry much in real life. And when you do not cry in real life, the moments that you do cry are very, very fulfilling and cathartic. You realize, maybe I should cry more in general.”

For someone who isn’t an emotional person, Steven did an excellent job of portraying those emotions through his character. It’s also tough to imagine a fictional death affecting you 45 years down the road, but that’s a testament to how much of themselves actors like Yeun give to these characters.

Other actors on shows similar to The Walking Dead have had a tough time letting go once their characters had died.

Ryan Hurst, famous for his role as Opie Winston on Sons Of Anarchy, went through a similar situation. After months removed from the show, he was still having trouble saying goodbye to Opie. He recorded a very emotional video of his fellow cast members cutting off his hair and beard, which he had grown out specifically to play the character. You can watch that video here, but there’s a good chance it’ll bring you more tears than you bargained for.

As for Steven Yeun, fans of The Walking Dead will miss him enormously. Glenn was loved by audiences across the globe, and no one will ever be able to replace him.

Source: Entertainment Weekly