The Walking Dead’s Tom Payne Rejected Jesus Line: “I Refused to Do It”

Thou shalt not kill, especially if you’re Jesus. The Walking Dead alum Tom Payne reveals the line he “refused to do” — ultimately getting it cut from the show. As Paul “Jesus” Rovia, Payne’s character takes a pacifistic stance in the war with the Saviors when he clashes with a vengeful Morgan (Lennie James) over killing POWs. But in the final moments of Season 8, Jesus is present when Hilltop leader Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Daryl (Norman Reedus) conspire to kill Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Maggie tells Jesus he was right to save the Saviors, but Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) were wrong to spare Negan. 

“We need our strength, the ability to defend ourselves better. We have to have that,” Maggie tells Jesus in her darkened office at Hilltop, to which he says, “We will.”

When Maggie says they’re going to bide their time and show Rick he was wrong, Daryl steps out of the shadows to side with Maggie’s move against Rick. “Yeah,” says Daryl. “We will.” 

During a recent panel appearance at Fandemic Tour Atlanta, Payne revealed he pushed back against saying the line agreeing with the vengeful Maggie’s plot to murder Negan. 

“There was a moment at the end of Season 8, when [Maggie] is like, ‘I’m gonna get revenge on Negan.’ They wanted me to be like, ‘Yeah, we will,’” Payne said. “I had spent the whole season being kind of anti-killing Negan, and anti-fighting people. So it was me going, ‘Yeah, we will.’ Then Norman coming out of the shadows and going, ‘Yeah. We will.’ I just refused to do it. I didn’t say the line [like they wanted].”

Payne’s delivery of the line was more tentative and “kind of half-supporting,” but in the final cut, Jesus only agrees with building up the Hilltop. 

“They cut it out, and then they killed me the next season,” Payne said with a laugh. “But it was really hard for me, and I told them at the time, ‘I’m not going to lie. I can’t lie on camera, because you’ll be able to tell.’ I spent the whole season being against war and against [killing], and as much as my character would support Maggie, I felt it was a bit of a weird thing for him to do.”

He added, “I couldn’t do it truthfully as an actor, and I just refused to. So they cut it out.” 

The ominously-shot scene was a cause for concern for fans who worried Maggie was taking a villainous turn in Season 9. But when The Walking Dead jumped 18 months in the future post-All Out War with Negan, Maggie and Daryl were still Rick’s allies — even if they did plot to lure Rick away from Alexandria so Maggie could execute Negan and avenge Glenn (Steven Yeun).

Earlier during the Fandemic panel, Payne explained “disappointment” over his character led him to suggest Jesus be killed off The Walking Dead. 

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