The Unexpected Way The Walking Dead Cast Celebrates Character Deaths
The Walking Dead has established itself since the beginning as a post-apocalyptic zombie horror series where no character is safe from death.
Over its twelve-year run, which is now currently airing its eleventh and final season, it has seen many beloved (and less loved) characters come and go. This happened so often that the cast celebrated each character's death straight from the first season. This slightly morbid, but fun ritual became so popular among the cast that it became a long-standing tradition that has gone on in secret ever since.
The 'Death Dinners'
As the seasons of The Walking Dead continued, rumours of the cast's death celebrations became public. And it was here that we learned of what has been humorously named 'Death Dinners'. At these events, all the cast members from the show, including those whose characters so far survived and those who hadn't, would be invited to a get-together to celebrate the character's demise. Sarah Wayne Callies, who played Lori on the show described the dinner in an interview as "It gives everyone a chance to get properly sauced and say, 'We're going to miss the hell out of you."
It was also revealed how the cast figured out that these gatherings presented a risk to the show's ongoing plot. As the show became increasingly popular, the anonymity of who would be dying each season became harder to keep hidden. Therefore the cast started disguising the death dinners as birthday parties, so the wait staff could not spill any plot spoilers based on who was being celebrated. Rather sneaky of them for sure. Now the show is so popular not even that sly trickery will work. Reportedly all death dinners are held at either the producer's or cast member's home.
The death dinners are more than just a booze-up by all accounts. Each of the cast members put in a real effort to make it as memorable for each actor. In an interview with GQ, Steven Yeun who plays Glenn stalks about the all-out performances done for him and Michael Cudlitz (Abraham Ford. 'The girls' choreographed a dance, and he and the boys some kind of boy band tribute of 'I Want It That Way' by the Backstreet Boys.
Clearly, these are really intimate and emotional get-togethers with a close cast who seem to have become a friendly bunch on and off the set. Scott Wilson (Hershel), described the death dinners as 'otherwordly'. And continued by saying, "It's a death dinner but you still feel so alive. It's a great expression by the cast for everyone. Those who are still alive have gratitude to those who came before them, and we have these [dinners] to honor them". The deaths may have been the end of the characters on the show, but clearly not the end of the friendships between the actors.