It’s never easy when TV characters are killed off, disappear, or move away.
While most of the time, this happens because the actor has been let go, this isn’t always the case.
From salary negotiations to a loss of interest in the role to other opportunities coming up, here are 12+ actors who asked to be written out of their show.
Josh Charles – *The Good Wife*
After his shocking death as Will Gardner in The Good Wife , Josh Charles was questioned about his character’s sudden departure from the ABC drama.
Turns out, he chose not to renew his contract so that he could “explore new stuff,” he told Deadline .
Sophie Turner – *Game Of Thrones*
“I don’t want to survive… If you’re on Game of Thrones and you don’t have a cool death scene, then what’s the point,” the actress once told The Mirror .
She must have been disappointed, then, to learn that she survived the entire series.
Dean Norris – *Breaking Bad*
When Dean Norris took on his Breaking Bad role, he had one demand: he needed to be killed off after one season to do a comedy pilot.
In the end, the show’s creator, Vince Gilligan, rejected his request. As fans saw, Norris was on the show for its entirety.
Crystal Reed – *Teen Wolf*
After three seasons of playing Allison Argent on Teen Wolf , Reed decided that she had lost touch with her character as she got older.
“I feel that there’s nothing more that I can give to this character,” she told Entertainment Weekly .
Raymond Cruz – *Breaking Bad*
The Breaking Bad actor asked to be written off because he wasn’t enjoying his time acting.
“There is nothing fun about it. It’s a great character, but to try to pull it off is really difficult. It’s really high energy.” He told The Hollywood Reporter .
John Francis – *Bones*
With a better job opportunity at hand, the Bones actor asked to have his character, Lance Sweets, written off.
In a shock to fans, he was killed off. Shortly after, Francis started his directing career with the National Lampoon’s Vacation remake.
Patrick Dempsey – *Grey’s Anatomy*
After many years on Grey’s Anatomy , Dempsey knew that it was time to hang up his scrubs.
“It had been long enough,” he told People .
His departure was kept quiet, making it more dramatic when his character was killed in a car crash.
Jared Padalecki – *Gilmore Girls*
Padalecki found himself at a crossroads when a role in Supernatural came calling while he was still playing Dean Forester in Gilmore Girls .
Because of this, he asked to be abruptly written off of Season 5 to play Sam Winchester.
Daniel Gillies – *Saving Hope*
A bomb was dropped when Daniel Gillies character, Dr. Joel Goran, pulled out a bomb from a patient and died in the explosion.
Since the show is filmed in Toronto, Gillies decided that after three seasons, he needed to be home with his wife and two young children in Los Angeles.
T.R. Knight – *Grey’s Anatomy*
With a lack of trust between actor T.R. Knight and creator Shonda Rhimes, Knight asked to leave after just five seasons of Grey’s Anatomy .
“My five-year experience proved to me that I could not trust any answer that was given,” Knight told Entertainment Weekly .
Kal Penn – *House*
Despite “having an incredible time” playing Dr. Lawrence, the Harold and Kumar star asked to be written off the show.
The reason why? He was offered a position to go work in the Whitehouse with the Obama Administration.
Alyssa Milano – *Mistresses*
Fans were disappointed when the actress didn’t return as the lead in the ABC drama, Mistresses .
Milano decided that relocating to Vancouver, Canada for Season 3 wasn’t worth it. “Being a mother and wife comes first,” she wrote on her website.
Meghan Markle – *Suits*
As soon as things got serious with Meghan and Prince Harry, the Suits producers started planning her exit from the show.
In the end, their prediction of Meghan leaving came true, as she decided to quit acting to pursue a royal life with her royal beau.
Hayden Panettiere
The Nashville star had to take a leave of absence from the show to find self-help for her postpartum depression.
After seeking help, she returned to the show stronger than ever. “It feels really good,” she told Yahoo in a 2016 interview.
Steve Carrell
When Steve Carrell joked that it would probably be his last year on The Office during a BBC interview, he started thinking more about the idea.
When he realized he didn’t get any kind of response from them, he thought, “‘Oh, Maybe they don’t really care if I leave,'” one of the crew told Collider .”
Dan Stevens – *Downton Abbey*
The Downton Abbey actor decided to leave the cast in 2012 to pursue other acting opportunities, leaving his character Matthew Crawley to die in a sudden car crash.
Five years later, he admitted to The Mirror that he’s “still apologizing” for ruining everyone’s Christmas when his character died.
Rob Lowe – *West Wing*
A salary dispute while on The West Wing caused the actor to leave his role as Sam Seaborn after sixteen episodes.
Despite being a popular character, he only made $75,000 per episode. Meanwhile, Martin Sheen earned $300,000.
Dominic Monaghan – *Lost*
After lacking screentime, the Lost star felt like it was his time to go. “Charlie in Season 1 as opposed to how much they got to see Charlie in Seasons 2 and 3 was significant,” he told TV Guide .
He also wanted a heroic death, stating, “I have to go out, guns blazing.”
Connie Britton – *Nashville*
Britton made the choice to leave Nashville as a creative choice when the show moved from ABC to CMT.
Showrunner Marshall Herskovitz told Variety that when CMT picked up the show, she felt “inner conflict” and decided it was time for a new challenge.
