The actor says he first approached producers about an exit strategy during season 5.
Warning: This article contains spoilers about Sunday’s midseason premiere ofFear the Walking Deadtitled “The Door.”
But it wasn’t enough.
Garret Dillahunt on ‘Fear the Walking Dead’.Ryan Green/AMC
(Also double-check to check out ourepisode Q&A with showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg.)
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So for how long has this untimely demise of John Dorie been in the works?
And then we had a lot of conversations between 5 and 6 about how John would exit.
Garret Dillahunt and Jenna Elfman on ‘Fear the Walking Dead’.Ryan Green/AMC
And, at the same time, propel the story forward.
You say you were talking about it back during season 5.
Other times, it’s a creative story decision that ends someone’s tenure.
Garret Dillahunt and Lennie James on ‘Fear the Walking Dead’.Ryan Green/AMC
So what was the backstory in terms of you and your character leaving the show?
Well, I don’t think it’s a secret or anything.
It’s a little bit of both of those things.
I loved my time on this show and will always cherish it.
And I’m just fortunate it worked out.
I can’t imagine what goes into logistically planning these series.
There are so many moving parts, there are so many people involved.
What was filming that scene like?
We’d filmed most of 608 pre-pandemic.
It was the episode we were shooting when we were shut down.
We were just two days short of finishing it.
So we shot that in October, I think.
Somewhere around there, late fall, after they opened things up a little bit.
So it’s been more than a year that we’ve had to sit on this secret.
What was it like playing a zombie?
So he’s a brand new one.
And I think they do something CGI with the eyes.
And since I was crawling out of a river, I didn’t have to have any contacts in.
Lamb learning to walk.
Reach for her."
I think I would have gotten to her by now."
But they wanted to lengthen that, those last moments between John and June.
And it almost seems tender.
You’re like, “Is there a little bit of John left in there for a second?
Is he fighting it for a little bit harder?
Is that a caress on her leg?
Or is he trying to grab her and eat her?”
So I thought it was pretty effective.
And it’s a real skill being a walker, which I do not possess.
So I was glad I didn’t have to actually walk.
And it all comes full circle.
What was it like coming in and going out with Lennie James?
Oh, it was great.
That the good news is I’m not actually dead.
I get to remain friends with these people forever.
And I feel like I will.
Lennie’s one of my best friends now, and I look forward to cultivating that relationship.
He’s a real good dude.
And I just think it’s a really talented group.
I can’t find an a–hole in the bunch.
I really like everybody behind and in front of the camera.
And as far as this cast goes, I just feel like they could do anything.
And that’s what excited me about joining the show in the first place.
John’s plan is to kill himself.
Of course, she then shoots him in the chest, but had shenot, was he serious?
No, I think that was intentional.
I think that is where his head was at.
He didn’t want to be there.
He was a pretty healthy person mentally in general.
He’s pretty optimistic.
I don’t know.
That’s a joke.
And that I think he would have gone on with them back to everybody.
I wanted that to be the last thing he says before he then is shot.
It’s kind of cruel, but it’s also, dramatically, I think, real interesting.
The tragedy of that, of like, “I want to die, I want to die.
I don’t want to die.”
And then you get killed from another method.
And maybe he’s never even in that suicidal place.
Yeah, that’s true.
I really loved episode 604.
It was one of my favorite episodes that I got the honor to do.
But he just falls short at every turn in that episode.
Everything he tries, he’s just a little late, just a little slow on the uptake.
He’s just a little behind, he’s just a little blind.
And that really beats him up, that he was unable to protect people.
And that’s what he thinks he does.
He’s a sheepdog.
And he just thought, “I’m just not effective here.”
It’s a shame.
There are ways around those feelings.
You wish he’d talked to June more, you wish he’d opened up.
He shouldn’t have run away, but he’s not in the right frame of mind.
He’s not thinking straight.
And unfortunately, he can’t come back from it.
What were your last days on set was like when they wrapped Garret Dillahunt onFear of the Walking Dead?
Even if you want off a show, it’s never easy to leave one.
There’s seldom real bad blood or something like that.
It’s often just time.
“And I love the show and I don’t want to hurt the show.
So it was wild to have kept this a secret for so long.
I’m shocked that we did.
And then everything was delayed.
The moving on has been delayed.
The next projects have been delayed.
It’s pretty amazing.
And it left me in a very…
I don’t know what the word is.
Not just to be on a set, but like, “All my old friends.”
And then you’re gone.
So it’s this weird distance goodbye.
And they’re in the middle of setting up the next scene.
They moved right on from dying John.
So I’m thanking everybody.
I took my original hat.
It was fitted to my head, so I took that.
And I’ve got some nice souvenirs.
And it was beautiful.
It was sweet and sad, the bittersweet.
And I’m excited for the future.
There’s a lot of things I’ll miss on the show.
Obviously, a lot I won’t.
And I’m really excited to stay in touch with the fans.
I’ll see you on the circuit, and John exists, and Garret’s still alive.
John will always exist.
And he was a great character.
I was honored to play him.
