Surviving 'Walking Dead' Stars Bid Emotional Farewell to Dead Character You Really Loved

Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, and Lauren Cohan pay tribute to Steven Yeun's Glenn.

October 27, 2016

Not Available Lead — Image via Complex Original

Let's be real. If you haven't watched the season 7 premiere of The Walking Dead yet, then that's on you. Spoiler alert? Nah. If you don't know the identities of Negan's victims by now, chances are you don't give a shit about the show and/or you just really like torturing yourself. At any rate, accomplished pizza delivery guy Glenn Rhee (Steven Yeun) was among the deceased in conservative parents' least favorite episode of The Walking Dead ever. Now the surviving cast members, including Andrew Lincoln and Norman Reedus, have tearfully issued their formal goodbyes.

"[Steven Yeun] is one of the founding fathers of this show," Lincoln toldEntertainment Weekly Thursday. "His fingerprints are on every part of it. It's his humor I'll miss most of all. He's just got this knack of saying exactly the right thing at the wrong time. It's absolutely beautiful, and I'll miss all of it. The wonderful thing about being in this job is seeing someone grow up on screen and become this astonishing leading actor in his own right."

Reedus, who currently has two AMC shows to worry about, echoed Lincoln's BFF declaration with his own mourning of the "bummer" surrounding Yeun's exit. "I was with him when he proposed to his wife," Reedus toldEW. "He's been on this run with me since before I even started on the show. Losing him as a character and as a guy I get to hang out with every day is a bummer. It's the last thing in the world I ever wanted to happen. You lose people on this show and you're like, 'That's how the show works,' but when you lose somebody that close to you, it just sucks."

Cool stories, dudes. Bet you're bummed as hell. But what about Lauren Cohan, whose Maggie was frustratingly denied a fair amount of screen time to mourn Glenn's death in the season 7 premiere? Well, she's going to miss Yeun's "ride or die" attitude most of all. "You know he has your back," Cohan said, recalling her first Korean barbecue-assisted meeting with Yeun and some serious Fourth of July hangs at his spot in Georgia. "Everything that we see in Glenn is what Steven brings to him, and that's that steady heart. I'm so excited for him knowing he's going on to do amazing things."

RIP Glenn Rhee.