With Sunday's Mid-Season Nine finale, The Walking Dead brought back its classic "no one is safe" attitude in shocking fashion. Upon introducing the Whisperers, Jesus was killed in a terrifying manner. A walker ducked under his sword and drove his own into the Hilltop's leader for a fatal blow. While it bolstered the narrative in an impressive and exciting way, it also was fulfilling a request by the Paul "Jesus" Rovia actor Tom Payne.
"I loved the character," Payne told THR. "It's sad to say goodbye to the character. But there was just so much potential in the character that wasn't realized. I was frustrated by that and wished we had explored it further. I wasn't sad to say goodbye to that frustration. It was constant. I had been training for two years. I was so prepared for this character and what he was capable of."
Payne has long been a fan of Jesus' role from Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead comics and has repeatedly been disappointed when key moments with his character were cut from the TV series.
"There was just lots of unrealized potential," Payne said. "That was very frustrating for me. When we finally showed off this year what he was able to do, that was great. I have no wish to go back to being frustrated by a character. It's really just part of being on an ongoing series. You're constantly hoping the next episode you get, something will happen for you. You're on the edge of your seat all the time, pressing your hands together and hoping that something cool will turn up. You can only do that for so long. I'm looking forward to doing something now that has a beginning, middle and end, so I can see the character in front of me. I spent a long time hoping my character was going to have more to do. I was happy to have a great beginning, a great bit [in the middle] with Lennie, and then a really great ending. That's enough for me."
26-11-2018 - Vidéo
