Yahoo Movies 9 stars you totally forgot were in The Walking Dead
Let's face it, with 20 series regulars making up its enormous cast, it's no easy task remembering every single actor who's still on The Walking Dead, let alone all of the fine performers who've come and gone over the past eight years.
But many of the faces you've probably since forgotten have gone on to greater prominence since, leaving their days fighting the undead hordes behind and landing lead roles in other high-profile series. (Just like these people from Supernatural.)
Remember when this lot fought with / against Rick Grimes and company?
1. Robin Lord Taylor
Gotham standout Taylor is now best known for his portrayal of a young Oswald Cobblepot / the Penguin in FOX's Batman prequel. But prior to being cast as the Dark Knight's nemesis, he appeared in two episodes of The Walking Dead in 2013.
His character Sam featured in both 4x04 ('Indifference') and 5x01 ('No Sanctuary') – in his debut, survivors Sam and girlfriend Ana briefly joined up with Rick and Carol, but the gang split up to find supplies. Ana was killed but Sam's fate was left uncertain until he resurfaced at Terminus, having been captured by Gareth and his cannibal gang. He was brutally executed by said villains shortly afterwards.
2. Juliana Harkavy
Before she was Dinah Drake / the Black Canary on Arrow, Harkavy played the character of Alisha in two back-to-back episodes from The Walking Dead's fourth season.
Alisha, an Army reservist and member of Caesar Martinez's camp, was actually Tara's first on-screen girlfriend. But after allying herself with the increasingly deranged Governor and being shot dead by child psychopath Lizzie Samuels she doesn't get so much as a passing mention these days.
It's all Denise, Denise, Denise.
3. Audrey Marie Anderson
Anderson actually appeared on The Walking Dead at the same time as her future Arrow co-star Harkavy.
Also introduced in the three-episode arc that rounded off the first half of season four, Anderson's character was Lilly Chambler, Tara's older sister who actually had a brief romantic relationship with the Governor.
Devastated by the death of her daughter Meghan, Lilly turned on her former lover in his final skirmish with Rick– she was the one who actually dispatched him, shooting the Guv in the head after he'd already been fatally stabbed by Michonne.
Unaware that Tara was still alive, Lilly believed her entire family was lost and committed suicide by allowing herself to be devoured by walkers.
Anderson began playing Lyla Michaels, love interest and later wife of John Diggle, on Arrow in 2013 and continues to recur on that show and other Arrow-verse series.
4. Kirk Acevedo
Most recently seen portraying criminal mastermind Ricardo Diaz on Arrow (yep – another one!) Acevedo is one of those 'That Guy!' actors, having appeared in such notable TV series as Oz, Band of Brothers, Fringe and 12 Monkeys and movies including The Thin Red Line and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
He also appeared, funnily enough, in the same Governor mini-arc that featured Harkavy and Anderson. His character Mitch Dolgen was Philip Blake's brutal right-hand man, eventually offed by Daryl with an arrow to the heart.
5. Enver Gjokaj
Dollhouse and Agent Carter actor Gjokaj appeared in just a single episode of The Walking Dead (4x07, 'Dead Weight') back in 2013 as Pete Dolgen – ill-fated brother of the aforementioned Mitch.
Having fallen in with Caesar Martinez's camp, the Governor killed first Martinez and later Pete when he assumed temporary command. Pete was literally stabbed in the back by the Governor, and then strangled to death, later reanimating underwater after his corpse was dumped in a nearby lake.
6. Keisha Castle-Hughes
Poor old Joan from The Walking Dead's fifth season had an absolutely terrible time of things. Beth (Emily Kinney) met Joan during her stay at Grady Memorial Hospital, with the latter having been bitten trying to escape the compound.
Joan's arm is amputated, saving her life, but she later cuts open her stiching and bleeds to death, committing suicide after being subjected to repeated sexual assaults by the horrid Gorman.
The character was played by Keisha Castle-Hughes, who was later cast as Obara Sand – one of the deadly Sand Snakes – on Game of Thrones. She featured in eight episodes of the HBO series from 2015 to 2017, eventually being slain by Euron Greyjoy in her final appearance.
7. Sam Witwer
Witwer's best known for playing the vampire Aidan in the US version of Being Human and for roles on Battlestar Galactica and Smallville. As of 2011, he's also voiced Darth Maul in various Star Wars projects, on TV and in film.
He made a brief appearance as a walker, locked away in an armoured vehicle with Rick, in the first and second episodes of The Walking Dead's first season, almost unrecognisable under heavy make-up.
What's interesting about Witwer's cameo is that it was supposed to be setting up a more substantial encore. Frank Darabont originally planned to open the show's second season with a flashback episode that would have featured Witwer's soldier as the main character and explored the circumstances around his death.
The plans were later abandoned and Darabont exited his showrunner post not long after, leaving Witwer's character as just some dead dude in a tank.
8. Kyle Gallner
Beaver from Veronica Mars resurfaced as a survivor named Zach, who joined Rick's prison community and appeared in a single episode, the fourth season premiere '30 Days Without An Accident'.
College student Kyle began dating Beth in the time-gap between the third and fourth seasons, but their romance was short-lived – he was eaten alive saving Bob Stookey after Bob attempted to nab a bottle of wine from a convenience store and ended up trapped under a broken shelf (No, really).
Then, for good measure, a helicopter crashed into the store, causing its roof to collapse and bury Kyle's body. Yeesh!
9. Michael Raymond-James
Dave from episode 2x08 'Nebraska' was short-lived even by Walking Dead standards. He and his pal Tony (Aaron Munoz) were shot dead by Rick mere minutes after they'd met, with Rick growing suspicious that they planned to invade Hershel's farm.
Michael Raymond-James, who played the poor unfortunate, lived a little longer but still met a sticky end over on Once Upon a Time, where he played Neal Cassidy / Baelfire, father of Henry Mills and son of Rumple.
You might also know him from True Blood, where he played Rene Lenier / Drew Marshall, who again met an untimely demise. Guy just can't catch a break.
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