How The Walking Dead's Most Extreme Fans Went Rogue with Death Threats

There are plenty of reasons to love characters of The Walking Dead. But for some fans, there are reasons to downright hate not just the characters but also the actors who portrayed them.

Some of TWD's actors actually faced this darker side of fandom, even receiving death threats from fans who struggled to separate the actors from their on-screen personas.

Seth Gilliam

Seth Gilliam is known for his role as Father Gabriel. Gilliam's character made some questionable decisions early in the series, which led to a wave of hate and death threats from fans.

Despite Father Gabriel's change of heart and support for the main character Rick, some fans couldn't forgive his earlier actions.

Gilliam shared his experience with Entertainment Weekly, expressing his surprise at the intensity of the fans' reactions. He noted that the threats were mostly from younger audiences who were heavily invested in the show.

Josh McDermitt

Josh McDermitt, who played Eugene, also faced unpleasant critique. Eugene's shifting loyalties in the series didn't sit well with fans, leading to a barrage of hateful messages and death threats on social media.

The situation got so bad that McDermitt decided to deactivate all his major social media accounts. McDermitt's departure from social media was a clear indication of the toll the negative attention had taken on him.

His final Facebook live video before deactivating his account showed a man emotionally affected by the hate he was receiving for his character's actions.

Keith Brooks

Lastly, we have Keith Brooks, who portrayed the character Dan. Brooks' character was involved in a controversial scene with Carl (Chandler Riggs) from season 4, which led to a wave of hate mail and death threats.

Despite the harsh reactions, Brooks remained unfazed, understanding that fans were reacting to his character and not to him as a person.

Brooks acknowledged the difficulty some fans have in distinguishing between reality and fiction. He reminded fans that he was just an actor portraying a character and suggested that they watch him in other roles to see that he is not the character he played in The Walking Dead.

Source: EW, TWD Interviews Wiki