‘Talking Dead’ Host Chris Hardwick Pays Tribute to ‘The Walking Dead’ Star Scott Wilson
Last week, during The Walking Dead’s New York Comic Con panel and episode viewing, the room was overflowing with excitement and anticipation for what’s ahead in season 9. Despite the panel mainly focusing on Andrew Lincoln’s departure, the room was filled with smiles from both the cast and the fans. At the time, we had no idea that the world had lost one of it’s kindest souls. At the conclusion of the panel, the cast and fans learned that veteran actor Scott Wilson had passed away. The news came just about an hour after it was announced that Wilson would be reprising his role as Hershel Greene during the ninth season.
The first episode of the ninth season premiered the following day. While AMC did pay tribute to the late Wilson, the Talking Dead was pre-recorded. As such, this Sunday, host Chris Hardwick took a moment out of their first live show of the season to address the death of Scott Wilson and to say a few kinds words about their departed friend.
Hardwick started by recalling the moment that he and the cast learned of Wilson’s passing once they exited the stage at New York Comic Con. He said:
[row]“I really want to say something about Scott Wilson. I hosted the New York City Comic Con panel last week and, in case you missed it, Angela Kang confirmed that Jon Bernthal, Sonequa Martin-Green and the late Scott Wilson are going to make an appearance on The Walking Dead. The crowd went nuts, they were so excited, and we came off stage and almost immediately found out, then after that, that Scott had sadly passed away. Of course, we’re all going to look forward to seeing Scott reprise the role of Hershel, as emotional and bittersweet as that is, but I just had to say Scott was such an incredibly kind and talented man and elevated every room that he was in. He was someone that I really cared deeply about, and I always enjoyed seeing him.”[/row]
Hardwick then addressed last week’s pre-taped show, and spoke from his heart on Wilson’s passing:
[row]“We pre-taped the premiere last week. We were unable to acknowledge his passing on our show, so I just want to say tonight that we’re thinking about him, and our thoughts and our hearts are with his friends and family and especially his wonderful, amazing wife Heavenly, who was equally lovely as well to see, and all the fans that loved him too. So we just wanted to take a moment before we go to commercial and say, ‘We love you, and we miss you, Scott.’”[/row]
Hardwick’s emotional words are of course shared by all of The Walking Dead fandom. Rest easy, Scott Wilson. We all love and miss you!
A karaoke obsessed, craft beer enthusiast and lover of all things pop culture, Denise enjoys all facets of entertainment from Broadway to box office blockbusters. In her spare time, she enjoys photography, concerts (lots and lots of concerts), volunteering, reading and playing with her rescue kitten, Samantha (who rescued who, right?).
