10 Actors Who Begged For Their TV Characters To Die

2. Jessalyn Gilsig - Vikings

Why She Wanted To Die

TV vet Jessalyn Gilsig played Earl Haraldson's (Gabriel Byrne) wife Siggy on Vikings, but after spending two years shooting in Ireland away from her family, she decided she was done with the show, and asked creator Michael Hirst to kill her off, which he did mid-way through the show's third season.

Gilsig said, "In truth, I told them. I had some personal things in my life that I needed to be there for — some family things, which everybody has sometimes. So I approached Michael Hirst and said that it wasn't going to be possible for me to continue living overseas in Ireland, and it was time for me to move on. He was incredible about it. It was really sad and difficult and an incredibly hard decision, as you can imagine."

How It Happened

Siggy jumps into an icy lake to rescue the children of Aslaug (Alyssa Sutherland) and Ragnar (Travis Fimmel), ultimately allowing herself to drown and head to Valhalla after witnessing a vision of her dead daughter, Thyri (Elinor Crawley).

Though Siggy's demise came as a rather shocking surprise for fans, it was ultimately a fitting end for the character, completing her arc in a compelling and emotionally satisfying way.