The Walking Dead's Steven Yeun Says He Didn't Put Up Much of a Fight to Stay on the Show

Actor Steven Yeun was a relative unknown when he joined The Walking Dead as Glenn, but over the many years he starred in the series, he made Glenn one of the series' most beloved characters, yet he recently detailed that he wasn't at all hesitant about the decision to have his character killed off. The actor expressed how his exit wasn't at all due to poor working conditions, but rather that he felt he had taken the character as far as he could go, which ultimately limited storytelling and character opportunities with Glenn, and this exit seemed like the right time to say goodbye.

In a conversation with Riz Ahmed for Variety, Yeun described Glenn as a "plucky, nice guy — nice to everybody," which he felt was pretty close to who he really is.

"That is me, and that's not a thing I'm ashamed of — it's just I'm more than that. And I think that over the course of the journey, I tried to expand, and I think Glenn grew to an extent alongside me," Yeun detailed. "But then there was a point in which I realized that, he almost became a ceiling, because I became an idea over a human character."

He added, "Then he was more asked to service as the moral compass for the show. And that's cool, a show needs that. I was happy to service that."

As is the nature of The Walking Dead, Glenn faced a number of close calls throughout his time on the series, though his death was one of the series' biggest cliffhangers. After the fateful introduction of Negan, the ruthless character murdered an unseen character in the Season Six finale, as the Season Seven premiere revealed Abraham to be the victim, with Negan then turning his brutality towards Glenn to kill him.

"There wasn't really much of a fight on my end," though Yeun did note that "it was still sad" because "it was such a beautiful time on that show."

"But I couldn't be stopped there," Yeun expressed. "I couldn't be stuck servicing just a genial natured guy for the rest of my career. On the inside, I didn't feel that way. On the inside, I can be angry, I can be vengeful. I can be all the other things, and I wanted to explore those things for myself."

While the expanding world of The Walking Dead has allowed for spinoffs and unexpected character returns, with Yeun's most recent feature films Burning and Minari being some of the most acclaimed films of their years of release, we doubt he'd be returning to the world of zombies anytime soon.

What do you think of the actor's remarks? Let us know in the comments below!