I don’t remember what I was watching that had Jon Bernthal in it and it occured to me that homeboy has blossomed ever since he left The Walking Dead and it got me thinking. When a character is written off a show (whether of their own accord or not), we forget that this is akin to leaving a job as a result of being fired or taking a risk to explore a new opportunity. Whatever the route, itcomes with uncertainty not knowing what is next.
For some it marks the beginning of oblivion (think Isaiah Washington or T.R Knight) and for the actors mentioned below it was a blessing in disguise that led to bigger and better roles. These are a few that came to mind:
As mentioned above, Jon Bernthal left The Walking Dead and basically exploded. On TV, he moved on to Daredevil and eventually got his starring turn on The Punisher. On the big screen, he was in The Wolf of Wall Street, Fury, Sicario, The Accountant, Baby Driver, Widows and Ford v Ferrari.
Sonequa Martin-Green, another Walking Dead alum left the show to become the lead in Star Trek Discovery which has received lots of critical praise
After being killed off of Power, J.R Ramirez did a stint on Arrow, Rosewood before joining the cast of Jessica Jones. He is currently a series regular on Manifest
No introduction needed, Taraji P Henson was already a well established actress in movies but was a series regular on Person of Interest before being killed off in 2013. In 2015, she had the breakout role of Cookie Lyon that exposed her to a broader audience and she won her first Golden Globe award and nominated for her first Emmy
These are the ones that come to mind. Do you have any examples of actors who left a show and flourished?
