8 Actors Who Regretted Quitting Popular TV Shows

While he's still got his Rick Grimes movies on the horizon, it seems that Andrew Lincoln's decision to leave The Walking Dead itself was tied to what he believed to be the declining quality of the seasons - an opinion he would very quickly change his mind on.

Lincoln left the role halfway through the show's ninth season, but had made his decision prior to the season's production. Echoing many fans' concerns, the show had been on a downward slope in terms of public perception, and he saw it fit to jump ship onto the trilogy of movies that would be less time consuming so he could spend more time with his family.

But Norman Reedus recounted in Entertainment Weekly that, once Lincoln saw Season 9 and realised the show's story was on a turn for the better, he regretted leaving the show and had picked the wrong time to do so, stating it was "so f—ing good right now". Reedus agreed, telling Lincoln: "Yeah, you did, dude. You picked the wrong time".

While it's probably some solace to Lincoln that he still has his film trilogy to have a share of the show's new creative direction, it must feel awful to leave a show you've been the centrepiece of just as it starts to get good again.