Hundreds of characters have died in the eight-seasons-and-counting (we’ll be counting for awhile) history of The Walking Dead. But rarely has death been as poignantly devastating as was during the latest episode. In “Some Guy,” not only do almost all of the king’s men perish, but Ezekiel loses his beloved pet tiger Shiva. It was an emotional episode, so much so that actor Khary Payton, who plays the leader of the Kingdom, broke down in tears while filming it.
“The scene we shot of that speech and leaving the Kingdom we shot in the morning, and as the sun was going down later that day, we shot Ezekiel, Jerry, and Carol returning and facing all of those people he told he was going to come back with victory,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “The first time we shot that rousing speech, we had such an intense time that morning, and when I came back and it was just those few people huddled there looking at me? I lost it. We never got it on camera, but I bawled like an idiot when I saw those people. That’s not what this was about. It needed to be a different response. Frankly, I don’t know how much longer I could have cried anyway.”
Payton continued, “Walking back into that situation, it was like, “I told them all it was going to be OK.” There was a dude who was specified in the script, Alvaro’s father [Alvaro was a Kingdom knight who died during the episode]. He was an extra and he kind of looked like Alvaro, and I caught his eye, and it tore me up. It was literally one of the most gut-wrenching moments.”
You come at the king’s tiger, you best not miss.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)