" I had this manila paper envelope with the last Sir Frederick Handley Page in it that they ’d never ascertain . … It ’s not often in your life that you see hoi polloi stunned … "
🚨 There are monumental spoilers ahead — include for recent episodes ofSuccession ! 🚨
1.First, onHow I Met Your Mother,Jason Segelhad no idea Marshall’s dad was going to die until they filmed the episode, so the scene between him andAlyson Hanniganincludes his honest, and immediate, reaction to the news.
2.The cast ofGrey’s AnatomySeason 8 had no idea that Lexie was going to die during the plane crash until the table read for the season finale. Sarah Drew said everyone was “weeping” when they found out in real time.
3.TheHow to Get Away with Murdercast was kept in the dark as long as possible before it was revealed that Wes was the character who died in Season 3. In fact, Karla Souza was crying so hard when she found out that they had to stop the scene they were currently filming.
4.Sarah Snookfound outabout Logan’s death happening in only the third episode of the final season ofSuccessionin a Zoom meeting. She was shocked it was happening so early in Season 4, and then was impressed with the “huge swing” creator and writer Jesse Armstrong was taking with it.
5.TheMAS*Hcreators and writers famouslywithheldthe script page that detailed Henry Blake’s death from the cast until they were filming. The cast shot the whole episode, thought they were done, and were then told they had a final scene to do.
6.Craig Sheffer wasoriginallytold he would be onOne Tree Hill"as long as the show runs," so he was stunned when Keith was killed off in Season 3. He revealed on theDrama Queenspodcast it happened because the creator threatened to fire him after he took time off to shoot an independent film and spend time with his family.
7.Veronica Marsnotably returned for a long-awaited Season 4, only for Logan Echolls to be killed in the final minutes of the revival season. Kristen Belladmittedthat she was “taken aback” when she first found out about the twist.
8.Jennifer Coolidge loved playing Tanya inThe White Lotusso much that shesaidshe “wasn’t happy” when she found out her character would be the big death in Season 2. However, she trusted creator Mike White that it was the right decision for the series.
9.OnOrange Is the New Black, most of the cast learned of Poussey’s tragic death when they got the script for the episode and promptly started weeping. Adrienne C. Moore, who played Cindy,recalled, “I cried [when I read the script] and I really cried at the very last episode. That one moment when she’s by herself.”
10.In theGame of Thronesseries finale, Daenerys Targaryen’s death was a sudden one — so much so, that at the table read for the episode, Kit Haringtonaudibly gasped, locked eyes with Emila Clarke, and started getting emotional when he read it for the first time.
11.Villanelle’s last-minute death in theKilling Eveseries finale was met with verymixed reactions— most pointing out that, once again, an LGBTQ+ character died for no reason — and Jodie Comersaidthat she doesn’t “like thinking of [Villanelle] floating around the River Thames” and she “did anticipate a mixed reaction” from fans after learning what would happen.
12.Julie Benz, who played Rita onDexter,saidshe “started having a panic attack” when she found out that her character would die on the show. She only found out three days before the rest of the cast found out.
13.While Jackie’s death inYellowjacketswas something the cast knew from the very beginning, how she died was a surprise to Sophie Nélisse. Shewasn’t expectingJackie’s death to come after a huge fight between her and Shauna, so the guilt would, in turn, become such an important part of Shauna’s arc moving forward, especially in Season 2.
14.The Sopranosdelivered one of thebiggest deathsin TV history when Adriana was killed in “Long Term Parking.” Drea de Matteo knew her character was likely going to die, but the rest of the cast, and even the crew, took it “like a death in the family.”
15.The 100became known for the often awful, and sudden, ways characters died, and Bellamy’s unnecessary death in the final season was one of them. After the episode, Eliza Taylor, who played Clarke,saidthat she didn’t “necessarily agree with Bellamy’s death, or a lot of other deaths.”
16.Ryan Hurst was soheartbrokenwhenSons of Anarchydecided to kill off his character Opie that one day, at 4 a.m., he looked online to see if there were any acting books that could help him cope with saying goodbye to a character.
17.Teen Wolfelected to come back with a movie — instead of a seventh season — and it ended with Derek sacrificing himself to save his son and Beacon Hills. Tyler Poseysaidit was “emotional” reading about Derek’s death in the script.
18.The Walking Deadshocked fans when they killed Andrea in Season 3, considering she’s a main character in the comic books. In fact, Laurie Holden, who played Andrea, was stunned when it happened because shereportedlyhad an eight-season deal with the show.
19.And finally,The Originalsheartbreakingly killed Hayley during the final season, and Yusuf Gatewood, who played Vincent, hadno idea it was happeninguntil he got to the read-through. In fact, he thought it wasn’t real because there had been rumors on the internet after a writers' room leak revealed that Hayley was going to die.
