Steven Yeun had angst about his departure from TWD during its peak.

steven yeun in the walking dead

Steven Yeun has done quite well for himself since parting ways with the land of the Walkers. From earning an Oscar nod in 2021 to becoming the first Asian actor to win a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a limited series, the actor has been successful in building an impeccable resume.

But before earning acclaim for his versatility, the actor initially rose to prominence following his portrayal of fan-favorite Glenn in AMC’s The Walking Dead Series. Although in hindsight, leaving the show back in 2016 turned out to be a wise choice for Yeun, the decision wasn’t easy for the actor.

Steven Yeun Thought He Might Become Irrelevant  After The Walking Dead

Jeffrey Dean Morgan with his iconic bat LucilleThe Walking Dead Season 7 | AMC
After months of waiting, fans finally got to witness the continuation of the season 6 finale’s cliffhanger in The Day Will Come When You Won’t Be, which saw Glenn taking a baseball bat to the head. While his death was truthful to the comics, considering TWD already faked his death in season 6 once, his exit from the show was a gut punch to the fans.

While the actor was mindful that his character’s story needed to end and he was ready for his character’s fate, he recalled having some extreme angst about his departure. Considering he got to experience extreme ups with the show, the actor feared he “might not be relevant anymore”.
steven yeun the walking dead-1

Steven Yeun | The Walking Dead (via AMC)
He said:

I had some angst about leaving The Walking Dead. I got to experience the extreme ups as well as what it’s like when you might not be relevant anymore

Fortunately, Yeun flourished to the new challenge, excelling in projects such as Burning, Nope, Minari, and recently in Netflix’s Beef.

Steven Yeun Deemed the Idea of a Glenn Origin Story Horrible

While Steven Yeun had a great time playing Glenn since the show’s inception, after 81 episodes, he was done with the character for good and had no intentions of returning to it.
The Walking Dead AMCSteven Yeun as Glenn Rhee in The Walking Dead | AMC
Speaking with IndieWire back in 2018, the actor denounced the idea of a Glenn-origin movie, stating it’d be horrible. He said:

Sometimes people pitch to me, ‘Dude, wouldn’t it be so cool if you did a Glenn origin movie? And I’m like, ‘No, that’d be horrible.’ That was so long ago. I was another person. I don’t think I could go back there. That person was inherently trapped in whatever people thought he was. I fed into it and I believed in it, too — until I got out.

Even though the actor parted ways with TWD, which remains one of the biggest shows of the 21st century, during its peak, not long after his exit, the series started to show its cracks.