10 Actors Pissed Off By Their TV Character Deaths

TV shows by their nature are far more complex than movies, if only because they're a longer-form medium with so many more actors, storylines, and moving parts.

It's impossible for everything a series does to please everyone, not least its cast, who over the course of multi-season arcs are bound to have their own creative misgivings with a show's direction.

This is particularly tricky when it comes to an actor being written off a series, especially if it's by way of a death that's either shocking, violent, or controversial by design.

These 10 roles, all played by terrific character actors and A-listers alike, met ends which left the actors themselves frustrated, irritated, and straight-up pissed off.

But rather than play things diplomatic and keep their feelings to themselves, they sooner or later sounded off about their issues with how their characters were 86'd.

Whether these death scenes worked or not - and in many examples they absolutely did - the actors were nevertheless crushed to be killed off, often when they least expected it...

Of the many, many deaths throughout HBO's masterful crime series The Wire, one of the most crushing was that of Stringer Bell (Idris Elba), the hyper-smart second-in-command of Avon Barksdale's (Wood Harris) drug operation.

Thanks to Elba's terrific performance and the character's uncommonly nuanced portrayal, String quickly became a fan favourite. However, his tenure came to an abrupt end when he was assassinated in the penultimate season three episode "Middle Ground."

Elba himself admitted he was totally shocked and disappointed by Stringer's death:

"When I first read the script I was like: 'What? No! This isn't supposed to happen.' I was deeply disappointed. It was a surprise, a complete surprise."

Series creator David Simon later confirmed that he decided to kill off Stringer two years prior, and opted not to deviate from the plan no matter how much viewers loved the character.

As bitterly disappointed as the actor was, though, he at least seems to appreciate the thematic function his character's demise served:

"One of the themes of the show is that raw, unencumbered capitalism is not good for anyone. You may get a short run, you may get a long run, but the drug trade is the only thing that's eternal."