The Walking Dead Cast: Why Did Jon Bernthal Really Leave?

The Walking Dead: AMC teases season 11 of hit show

The Walking Dead is almost done and dusted with as there's just one series left before it's over for good. The zombie-central series is going to return on AMC for season 11 on Sunday, August 22. International fans will then be treated to the same premiere episode via Star on Disney+ the following day.

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WARNING: This article contains spoilers from The Walking Dead.

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Why did Jon Bernthal leave The Walking Dead? 

Jon Bernthal portrayed Rick Grimes' (Andrew Lincoln) former friend-turned-enemy Shane Walsh for two seasons.  

They rarely agreed on any plans of action and Shane even started an affair with Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) not long after abandoning Rick in the hospital.

When Rick later reunited with Lori in Atlanta, Shane started to plot against the leader.

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Sadly for him, his plan didn't end the way he expected it to as Rick got the upper hand.

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READ MORE: The Walking Dead season 11: Gabriel death ‘sealed’ by Rick clue

Why did Jon Bernthal leave The Walking Dead? (Image: AMC/DISNEY PLUS)

The Walking Dead: Shane Walsh was killed off in season 2. (Image: AMC)

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In the penultimate episode of season two, titled Better Angels, Shane was stabbed in the chest by Rick.

Having already been bitten, Shane came back to life as a zombie but was then shot in the head by Carl Grimes (Chandler Riggs).

So there was no doubt in anyone's minds that actor Bernthal wouldn't be returning, apart from in a couple of hallucination sequences in later seasons.

Unfortunately for the 44-year-old actor, Shane's death had been in the stars even before The Walking Dead started.

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The Walking Dead: Shane Walsh was played by actor Jon Bernthal. (Image: GETTY)

Speaking to TV Line back in 2012, showrunner Robert Kirkman said how Shane was always intended to be killed off.

He explained: "Before the first episode of season one was shot. [Laughs]

"Frank [Darabont, executive producer] always talked about how, if the first season had been 13 episodes, we would’ve went ahead and told the entire Shane story and killed him off at the end of the season, which was pretty much what we did in the comics.

"But because that was a six-episode season instead of a normal-sized season, we decided to hold it for season two."

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Bernthal was upset when his chapter on The Walking Dead came to an abrupt end.

He was on set during the filming of the series two finale so he could say goodbye to his other castmates.

Talking at Fandemic Tour Houston, Bernthal said: “I just sat on this rock and watched everybody, just the whole thing working.

"I might have shed a couple tears, because I was gonna miss them.

"But I just appreciated — I saw these dudes who are playing zombies, going 100 miles an hour, all this s**t on their face, getting shot, all this hell’s breaking loose.

"Scott Wilson, rest in peace, just acting his ass off. I was just like, ‘Man, how cool is this?’” [Sic] 

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Since leaving The Walking Dead, Bernthal starred in The Punisher as leading man Frank Castle.

He has also had various smaller parts in projects including Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Le Mans '66, Viena and the Fantomes and Those Who Wish Me Dead.

Bernthal is going to feature in the upcoming The Sopranos prequel film The Many Saints of Newark.

The Walking Dead is available to watch on Disney+.

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