Alexandra Breckenridge: The Walking Dead (Image: (Image: AMC))

Alexandra Breckenridge has become a household name thanks to her role as Mel Monroe in Virgin River but she was forced to say goodbye to a much-loved character in The Walking Dead

Netflix’s Virgin River, starring Alexandra Breckenridge as Mel Monroe, continues to captivate audiences as it gears up for its sixth season.

Breckenridge is no stranger to the small screen, having appeared in major TV shows like The Walking Dead. Her character, Jessie Anderson, had one of the most heart-wrenching exits from the show, witnessing her son’s death at the hands of zombies before meeting a similar fate herself.

The actress opened up about the moment she learned her character would be killed off, and the sadness that accompanied her departure from the series.

Unaware of Jessie’s impending doom when she first joined the cast, Breckenridge revealed to Entertainment Weekly that she discovered her character’s fate while filming the sixth season.

Jessie and Rick in The Walking Dead ( Image: (Image: AMC))

She recalled: “I think he was just giving me the heads up so I didn’t unnecessarily plant myself in Atlanta, like get a long-term rental.

“He was just trying to be nice and give me the heads up, but I was super sad.”

At the time, Breckenridge was considering moving into an apartment in Atlanta. Showrunner Scott Gimple broke the news to her during a cast dinner.

She shared: “We were at a cast dinner and I was just talking about looking into apartments and he said ‘Oh, you’re looking at apartments. Oh, I should talk to you about that, actually’.

“I looked at him and I was like ‘What?!’ And he said, ‘I’ll call you on Monday.’ So I sort of left that dinner a little bit devastated.

On her character’s death scene, she said it was a “super sad” moment as her character watched her child die.

“I can’t think of something worse, I really can’t. It’s just excruciating, and so being in the moment as an actor was just horrifying,” she added.

She told HollywoodLife: “After having done several very dark television shows and now having a family of my own, I’m really happy that I’m on a family-oriented show because it’s just much more of my mood than The Walking Dead an American Horror Story which are still both fantastic.

“After I got pregnant with my son I just can’t watch so much death. It just bums me out! I’d rather watch This Is Us.”

Jessie and Rick formed a romance that was cut short when walkers flooded into Alexandria, killing Jessie’s sons Sam (Major Dodson) and Ron (Austin Abrams).

Rick then had no choice but to cut off Jessie’s arm when she was attacked by walkers.

He was left with no choice but to free his son, Carl (Chandler Riggs), from her clutches.

After starring in seasons five and six, she moved on to Virgin River.

Alexandra Breckenridge and Martin Henderson in Virgin River ( Image: (Image: NETFLIX))