How 'The Walking Dead' cast and crew reacted when they learned season 11 would be the show's last

"I had a blackout," McBride told Insider over Zoom alongside cast member Norman Reedus of her reaction to hearing that season 11 would be the last for the show. "I completely blacked out." 

McBride has played Carol Peletier, one of the show's few remaining original cast members, since season one. 

"I was outside sitting on the deck and I heard and I think I was just stunned," McBride said. "Stunned."

"I was sitting in the backyard under an orange tree sitting in the dirt with my daughter, peeling an orange and got the call," Reedus recently told Insider over Zoom of where he was when he learned "TWD" was ending.

"I was like, 'What are you talking about?'" Reedus continued. "And they're like, 'Oh yeah, this is happening. And that's happening. And this is happening.' And I was like, 'What did everybody else say?' They said, 'We haven't called anybody else yet."

Reedus has played Daryl Dixon, an original character separate from "TWD" comics, since the show's first season. Since the show's main star Andrew Lincoln departed the series in late 2018, Reedus has become one of the show's primary leads.

Reedus said he was instructed to not tell anyone else that the show was ending. That didn't last long.

"I think I immediately called Melissa [McBride]," Reedus said. 

Reedus said he immediately had a bunch of questions after learning the news. 

"I was more thinking like, 'How does it end? Do we all die in slow motion? Do we find a cure? Do they just nuke us from space? Like what happens?'" Reedus said of wondering how they'll wrap up the series.

Morgan told Insider over Zoom that he was home in New York when he got the news. 

"I remember exactly where I was. I was on the phone, on my deck at the farm and it came as a shock," Morgan said. "It was sort of the last thing that I thought was gonna happen, but we were right kind of in the middle of the pandemic."

"It just started and we were on some shaky ground as it was," Morgan added.

Morgan excitedly joined the series at the end of season six as Negan, the larger-than-life leader of the Saviors who liked to hear himself speak. 

"It was a lot of information that none of us really could process or understand and probably still haven't," Morgan admitted as "TWD" costars Lynn Collins and Seth Gilliam, who were also on the Zoom call, nodded in agreement.

Marquand was in Austria when he received a joint call from showrunner Angela Kang and writer Scott Gimple. He was surprised at the news.

"You know, just a short time before we were talking about plans for even season 12 and beyond," Marquand, who has played Aaron on the show since season five, added.

"I was very sad, of course, I'm not gonna lie, to hear that," Marquand added. "But, I was buoyed by the fact that they were going to be adding eight additional episodes and really telling the story the best way they knew how with this extra elongated season."

Marquand said by the end of the call, he was "actually excited" based on what he was told for the forthcoming episodes. 

"But, yeah, it hit me like a ton of bricks when I first got that call," he said.

"I remember I was getting a call from both Angela Kang and Scott Gimple, and half the time when you're getting a phone call from just one of your two showrunners, it's about the demise of your character," Payton, who has played Ezekiel since season seven, told Insider over the phone in August.

"Both of them needing to be on the phone to talk to me about something... I was sure that there was a demise of some kind coming," Payton continued. "I just didn't realize that it would be of the show itself, which was shocking."

The pandemic threw off the shooting schedule for the series, which, in theory, should have premiered its 11th season last fall. Typically, seasons run 16 episodes. Last fall, AMC announced the final season will have an extended 24 episodes in addition to adding six bonus episodes to season 10. 

At the time, Kang told Insider the 30 final episodes would more or less play as two final seasons of the show.

"Having to wait an entire year to even get started was kind of crazy," Payton said. "To have kind of a super-sized season made it a little less bitter, because we knew that we were going to be here for a while."

"Normally we would be starting to edge toward the end of our season at about this time of the year and we are nowhere near the end of the season," Payton added. "We've still got most of our season left to shoot."

In April, Kang told Insider season 11 would likely film through March 2022.

"I'm kind of putting off the sadness and the tears and trying to remain kind of a student of the moment and enjoy the story that we're telling here now," Payton said.

"I actually was at my beach house when I got the call from [showrunner] Angela [Kang] and from ["TWD" universe chief] Scott Gimple," Ridloff told Insider.

"This was done through Zoom so we're all sitting there having small talk, whereas inside I was sweating, I was dying," Ridloff said. "I was like, wait, wait, wait. So are they calling me to tell me, you know, this might be the end of Connie?"

They were just calling to tell her about the final season.

Before her return on season 11, episode six, Ridloff was away from "TWD" for a bit filming Marvel's upcoming superhero film, "Eternals." Since then, the pandemic hit and then the show's final season was unexpectedly announced. 

"I honestly had mixed feelings," Ridloff said of the show's end and not her character's end. "I'm so thrilled to be part of a beautiful story. I think it's a big part of pop culture and you see so many references to 'The Walking Dead' and it really truly has been an influence globally and I'm proud of that and I'm grateful that this show happened."

Ridloff added, "But, of course, I'm sad about the fact that it's ending. Who knows what's going to happen? So, mixed feelings." 

"I was at home and Scott Gimple and Angela Kang called me and gave me a heads up and I was bummed and they were bummed," McDermitt, who has played Eugene since season four, told Insider over a Zoom call in August.

Unlike Payton, Josh McDermitt didn't think he was getting a call that he may be killed off. He said he speaks with both Gimple and Kang "frequently enough" that it didn't catch him off guard to receive a call.

"I think it was Angela who actually called," McDermitt said of the moment he found out about the show ending. "Then she said, 'Hey, I'm going to loop in Scott.' That moment, I was like, 'Oh, that doesn't happen often.'"

"I didn't think they were going to announce that it was the final season," McDermitt said, adding that he didn't know what they were calling for. "Sometimes it's, 'Hey, we have this idea.' Scott calls me all the time, too. He called me the other day to tell me about some George Lucas museum that was opening up. So it's not even always 'Walking Dead' related when we have a conversation."

"Angela and I, she loves bread and I've been baking bread lately," McDermitt added of making bread for the showrunner. "We're all friends. We don't just always talk about the show. So, I don't think it caught me off guard too much until [Kang] said, I'm looping in Scott. I was like, 'Oh, what's this? This is interesting."

Of the show ending, McDermitt said he looks at how Michael Cudlitz, who played his pal Abraham on the show, has gone on to other projects and hopes "The Walking Dead" will be one role in a list of projects he gets the opportunity to work on after it's over.

"I've been on the show for eight years. I can't ignore the fact that this is a big part of my career. I'm excited for what's next, and, at the same time, I'm just sad," McDermitt said.

After learning the news, he, like many others, checked in on his castmates.

"I wanted to know how everyone else was feeling about it," McDermitt said. "Everyone certainly has different feelings about it."

"It's not easy to hear that you're losing your job even if you're ready to move on," McDermitt said with a laugh, clarifying, "I'm not saying, 'Hey, I'm ready and I want out of here,' I'm just saying, 'OK, I've processed this, let's go do something else.' It's still not easy to go, 'Oh, I have a home in Georgia [where 'TWD' is filmed] that I have to pack up.'"

"It kind of took me by surprise because I thought that 'The Walking Dead' could be very much like 'Law & Order' and run for like 20 years," Gilliam said when asked how he reacted to the news of the show ending.

Gilliam also thought he could've been learning about Father Gabriel's impending demise. His character died a while ago on in the comic story. It's something he considers all the time now. 

"When I get a new script, I wonder if it's going to be the last ride for old Father Gabriel, because we are in uncharted territory with the character in the story," Gilliam said.

He added, "I've heard tales of people not getting the call until they read the script in the past [about their death]. So I'm like, 'Well, that could very much be my fate.'"

Gilliam doesn't seem sad at that thought, though. 

"At this point I feel like I'm playing with house money," Gilliam said. "So, you know, anything that happens, I'm like, 'Well, I made it much further than I thought I would anyway.'"

"I cried a little bit and I checked in with my castmates because some of them have been on this for many years, so it's very deep for them," Lázaro, who plays fan-favorite Princess, told Insider in March of when she first learned the show would be ending. 

"We're ready and we're excited that we get one more year to really put the best that we can out there," Lázaro added, saying they're saving the farewells for down the road. "We're mostly just excited. We love what we do and we'll deal with saying our goodbye later."

"[Showrunner] Angela [Kang] called me not long after we wrapped season 10 and I was mainly excited and proud, which is very selfish, that I made it to the end," Hilker told Insider. "It is pretty epic and it's an honor to be on that show and be part of the very end of it."

Hilker added that even though the main show is ending, there are still the spin-offs. 

"'The Walking Dead' world isn't really going anywhere, anytime soon," Hilker said, "[I'm] just excited to go out with a bang. I'm just so excited for this very last season for everyone to see what we're doing. It's mind blowing and it's so many different new tones."

"I was more optimistic," she added. "Obviously, knowing that something comes to an end, I probably haven't realized it yet. For now, it's just excitement, but I think it's going to hit me more towards the end. I'm just grateful for everything and all the people and the family I gained through the show and the fans."

"Like Nadia, there was excitement," Angel Theory told Insider when she learned about the final season. "There was a little bit of sadness and kind of just like, 'Noooo!' The internal fan in me is like, 'No, we need more! There needs to be so much more stuff.'"

Angel Theory isn't thinking about the very end of the show yet either. 

"Right now, I'm really just focusing on making sure every episode I'm a part of, that I'm able to just make sure I'm giving my 120%," Angel Theory said. "If I'm thinking already about the end, I'm not focusing on the path before getting there."

"I think the path of this whole journey is the most important part of it so that way the end would actually be just more beautiful. Whenever we get to that point, like Nadia said, it's just going hit more because I love these people on and off set," she added.

"I was happy and sad," Fleming told Insider.

"The people that have been on the show for longer than me have been working for a long time and I just joined in season nine," Fleming continued.

The series flash-forwarded over six years after Rick (Andrew Lincoln) departed the series in 2018 to introduce Fleming's older Judith.

Fleming added: "This is my third year. It's a lot of hard work. It's happy that it's ending, but it's super sad because I kind of grew up on the show. It's mixed feelings. Definitely sad and happy at the same time."

You can read our longer interview and her hopes to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe here.

"Whenever Angela calls me, I answer the phone, just going, 'Am I dead? Is it now? Is that why you're calling?" Matsuura told Insider. "I don't say hello or anything."

"So, I did that. I was just like, 'What's up? Am I dead?'" Matsuura continued, only to learn that wasn't the case at all.

"She was like, 'Oh no,' but she told me that it was gonna be the final season," Matsuura recalled, initially making light of the news. "And I was like, 'Oh, well, so kind of dead.'"

Matsuura joined the series as Yumiko, a member of an entirely new group of survivors from late in the comics, after Rick's departure on season nine. 

"It was surreal because I remember getting that phone call ... right in the middle of the pandemic," Matsuura continued. "I wasn't even in Georgia. I was away from 'The Walking Dead' family, living my other normal real life back in London. So everything about it was surreal."

"Honestly, I'm just glad to be back doing the final season," Matsuura said. "I wouldn't rather be anywhere else."

"I might have been driving to Roswell. I have some friends up there, some older relatives," McAuliffe, who played one of Negan's former followers, Alden, told Insider. 

"Angela and Scott called me on the phone to tell me, and it was quite a lovely conversation we had," he continued, adding, "I don't remember exactly how I felt, but I suppose a part of me was saddened for all the fans who would digest this to the end of time, I'm sure given the opportunity."

"But, part of me is also like, 'Good things must come to an end,'" McAuliffe, who was killed off "TWD" in the final season's episode nine, said. "I'm glad that they have an opportunity to close it out with some fire."

"I was at home visiting family when I heard and I'm still processing it," Caroll told Insider.

"I'm sort of processing the news because I have such a great time working with the family down there and I hate to see that happen [the show end], but I'm excited for what what's next in the universe," Caroll added. 

Virgil just survived a horrific stabbing on "TWD." Carroll's surprised he made it out of the episode alive.

"I can't believe it! Listen, I was glad that Virgil showed up again, much less made it through this episode," Caroll said.

Shaw joined "TWD" as comic fan-favorite, Mercer, the leader of the Commonwealth army, on the show's season 10 bonus episodes.

Although he joined the series one season before its finale, he told Insider he "wasn't aware" the series was coming to an end when he signed on.

"When I found out I was cast, I was actually on a hike in Runyon Canyon," Shaw said of the popular hiking destination in Los Angeles. "I took a moment to find a place where I could get a signal to talk to casting for a hot second. But, yeah, it was kind of a surreal moment at the top of a mountain when I found out I was cast."

"It's really bittersweet for me and everybody on the show, too," Kang told Insider shortly after the news was announced last fall. "We have not known forever. We obviously knew it a bit in advance of it being announced."

Kang took over as showrunner on season nine as its star Andrew Lincoln was getting ready to depart. After losing its way a bit, she helped turn the show around with two great seasons and unexpected twists from the comic to keep the series fresh. 

"This has been such a big part of my life and the lives of everybody that's been working on the show for many years," said Kang, who has been with the series since season two. "Our hearts are so in this show and in the family of cast and crew and even executives and everybody that [has] been been along this journey. For the writers, for my team, they basically found out kind of the same time as others."

At the time, Kang said they were readjusting to figure out how to "tell a fantastic story that brings the series to a close in a way that hopefully feels satisfying and true to this series." 

"It's definitely a bittersweet time and just lots of focus on going forward into the future," Kang added.

While speaking about season two of "TWD: World Beyond," Negrete told Insider he was working in his home office when he got the news.

"I was just completely shocked," Negrete said. "I had been on the show since season four and it seemed to me like it was the show that just could keep going. There's so much stuff to explore, so many characters."

"You have just so many characters that aren't even in the comic books that I just find so intriguing," he continued. "It just seemed like there are so many more places that it could go that I just — it never occurred to me that maybe it could end."

Negrete joined the series on season four as a writer before being announced as the showrunner of the spin-off limited series "TWD: World Beyond."

"I got the phone call from AMC. I just kind of sat here in my chair, kind of shocked and just kind of took the evening to absorb it," Negrete said. "It took a while to kind of really kick in."

"I'm sure for all those guys that are on the show now, they're doing this expanded season. Even though it's a ramp up to the end, there's still a ways to go. I can only imagine on their part as they get closer to the end, the realer it's going to become."

"I knew when I was cast in season 10 that I would also be in season 11 and that it was the last season, so I had to keep it secret," Collins told Insider.

"I was just really happy because as you know, I was a huge fan when this show first started. To be a book ender on it, it's a huge deal and I'm honored," Collins said.