10 Actors Who Begged For Their TV Characters To Die

6. Eric Balfour - 24

Why He Wanted To Die

Eric Balfour appeared on 24's first season as fan favourite snack-loving techie Milo Pressman, but to the frustration of many, his role proved rather short-lived.

Balfour made a triumphant return for the show's sixth season, however, with Milo now a fully-minted Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) employee, allowing Balfour a more expanded role across almost the entire season.

But Balfour ended up asking the writers to off him near the end of season six for two reasons. Firstly, in his own words, "I got an offer to do a CBS cop show that sounded really exciting, and I felt it was a golden opportunity."

This was in conjunction with him knowing ahead of time that CTU would be disbanded in season 7, meaning his role would likely have been substantially reduced anyway. Rather than simply peter out, he opted to go out with a bang instead.

How It Happened

Milo ends up sacrificing himself to save the life of his boss, Nadia Yassir (Marisol Nichols), when Chinese mercenaries attack CTU.

They ask the head of CTU to come forward, and before Nadia can do anything, Milo ends up taking her place, catching a bullet in the head for his troubles.

Given that 24 aggressively drove itself off a cliff in the two subsequent seasons and Balfour ended up scoring a lucrative recurring gig on Haven a few years later, it's tough to argue with his decision.