Warning: This article contains spoilers about Sunday’s episode ofThe Walking Dead, “A Certain Doom.”
The Whispering is pretty much over.
And the big fella who liked to chant about being the end of the world finally met his end.
Jackson Lee Davis/AMC
But then a few survivors slipped out of the building.
And them Lydia grabbed the backpack of supplies.
And then, out of nowhere, “Burning Down the House” by Talking Heads was blaring.
Jackson Lee Davis/AMC
As flashbacks of his journey with Alpha played in his mind, Beta surrendered himself to the herd.
The end of Beta also meant the end forRyan Hurst, who played the baddie to creepy perfection.
But does it mean that the actor and character are truly gone fromThe Walking Deaduniverse?
Gene Page/AMC
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So, Ryan, when and how did you find out about Beta’s demise?
And we bumped around some ideas about how it was going to happen.
She told me about Alpha’s death and how that was going to play out.
And then as we went into shooting, Angela and Greg Nicotero were just so accommodating.
It was very early on when they were first establishing Beta’s backstory and all of that.
We’ll take it from here."
But she said, “Yeah, let’s do it!”
And they said that they loved it.
You’re being modest when you talk about your contributions to this character in the world ofThe Walking Dead.
I I know thatwhole Whisperer mantrawas your whole thing that you cooked up and that you developed.
And here it is at the end.
That’s what we hear as Beta is meeting his end.
I’ll tell you, it was just so beautiful.
The cast and crew and the producers and Angela, and it really is such a beautiful family there.
It’s like, if you have a great idea, don’t keep it to yourself.
That everybody’s just going, “We love this show.
The fans love this show.”
It’s like, “Here’s a great idea.
Use it, don’t use it.”
And I’ll tell you, while we were shooting that very last sequence…
I was like, “All right, this is nightmare fuel.
I’m taking this with me, I guess.”
And beyond being scary, tell me just about what it was like shooting this whole sequence?
Was it emotional for you?
Were you amped up?
We had to shoot one little bit, and then the mask sort of malfunctioned.
And we had to shoot it again at a different location for some of the closeups.
So it was real catawampussed, all sort of put together.
Keep moving, keep moving," trying to put me on my mark.
So it was real technical, but afterwards, obviously got a big round of applause from everyone.
What was the last thing you actually filmed?
Was it the death scene or something else?
Yeah, it was him pulling the knives out of his eyes.
And that was Norman’s idea.
Because he really tapped into how it was just such an operatic moment.
It was just so tragic and beautiful.
So the fact that it was the three of you together was really cool on multiple levels.
Those are two of my best friends, man, I’ll tell you.
Jeff and I go way back.
And then we have bumped around for a long time.
And we went off and did that, and we’ve been close ever since.
He texted five times this morning, he’s one of my great friends.
This episode was originally supposed to air back in April, before COVID came and scrapped that plan.
Because I wanted to see it too.
Because they hadn’t finished the episode.
So I was like, “Oh.”
And I was just like, “Oh, this looks great.”
And I was just like, “Oh, they like me.
They really like me.”
I guess it was a stay of execution for Beta.
He got an extra six months due to COVID before they put him out.
Milked it for all it was worth.
We had probably four or five days of just rehearsal.
And then Andy [Lincoln] shows up and I was just like, “What?”
Andy was there and I guess he…
I literally still don’t know why he was in town.
And he was giving notes, and Norman’s just like, “Yo, your character is gone.
Get out of here, let me do this by myself.”
And I was just like, “What’s going on?”
I was just like, “What’s going on?”
But putting that fight sequence together, it was pretty solid.
I hope you didn’t get roped into their backgammon games.
Those are high-stakes games those two play.
I know, I know.
I was just like, “Yo, I’ve never played before.
I’m not putting any money on the table.”
What are you going to miss most about working on this show?
It’s just the love.
The love that you feel on that set is unprecedented.
I’ve never been on a set that is such a communal love fest.
The love between everybody is absolutely tangible there, and I’ll miss that the most.
I don’t know how you dealt with that heat.
You’ve got the mask, and you got that overcoat on, that could not have been comfortable.
I got heat exhaustion once.
I ended up in the hospital there once.
It’s no joke.
Everybody goes, “You go somewhere, take a friend with you.”
It’s no joke, those Georgia summers.
What do you think about a Beta backstory here?
Look, anytime, anythingWalking Dead-related, I’d be there in a nanosecond.
I have so much fun with that, and Scott is a great friend.
Also confirm to check out ourinterview with showrunner Angela Kang.
And for moreWalking Deadscoop, follow Dalton on Twitter@DaltonRoss.
