'The Walking Dead' Star Was Told During Show Event That His Character Would Die

"The Walking Dead" Season 8 is ending this coming Sunday, April 15, but the penultimate episode included a pretty big death.

*SPOILER ALERT*

Negan killed off his former right-hand-man Simon during Episode 15, "Worth." Actor Steven Ogg -- who was fantastic in the role -- did the post-mortem interview rounds, and something he told Entertainment Weekly was pretty interesting. It wasn't specifically about Simon's storyline, it was about how The Powers That Be handle the tricky job of letting actors know they will be leaving.

Here's that section of the Q&A:

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Start of off by telling us the how, when, and where of you finding out about Simon's untimely demise?

STEVEN OGG: [Showrunner Scott] Gimple talked to me. It could have been at the premiere. It was at some event where I sort of found out, "Oh yeah, you're going to be dying." I was like, "Oh, that would have been cool to find out tomorrow." That's the way of the world. That's the life of the show. It was just like, you know, you're sad. You're bummed because it's your friends and your family and it's work, and it's a job. More importantly, it's your friends and your family. You love it and, "Okay, yeah. Well, as long as I go down in flames. Can I get a big cannonball?"

Read his full Q&A for more.

Scott Gimple may need to work on his bedside manner. He's the third showrunner for "The Walking Dead" and he's leaving after Season 8. But he's sort of being promoted, since he'll be overseeing both "The Walking Dead" and "Fear the Walking Dead" (which now includes Lennie James' Morgan as a crossover character). He's in charge of the entire TWD brand for AMC.

But Gimple has taken a lot of heat in the past year, especially for the decision to kill off Carl Grimes, and the manner in which that happened. Chandler Riggs said he was blindsided by his character's exit, after he bought a house in the Atlanta area and thought he was staying on the show. Riggs' father also posted frustration with Gimple and the network, then deleted his post.

It sounds like Steven Ogg didn't have the best departure experience either. He had only been on the show since the end of Season 6, but still. To be told at a premiere, or panel event? TWD loses characters all the time, so maybe it's tough to make that phone call or sit down with someone to spell it out.

"The Walking Dead" Season 8 ends All Out War with "Wrath," from 9 to 10:10 p.m. on April 15. That will be followed by the premiere of "Fear the Walking Dead" Season 4 on AMC.

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