Actors Who Asked for Their Characters to Be Written Off Their Show

It's heartbreaking when a fan favorite character is killed off, moves away, or simply just is never mentioned in a script again. But between contract negotiations and career aspirations, believe it or not, sometimes it's the actor who asks for such treatment. From network shows to film franchises, find out which actors were dying (pun intended) to walk away from their contracts.

Fans were shocked when Derek Shepherd was killed in a car accident in season 11 of Grey's Anatomy. Reportedly, the reason for Dempsey's departure was his desire to work on other projects, and he starred in Bridget Jones’s Baby soon after leaving the show. "It had been long enough. It was time for me to move on with other things and other interests. I probably should have moved on a couple of years earlier." Dempsey PEOPLE in 2016.

John Rhys-Davies was reportedly constantly at odd with the writers of the '90s sci-fi show, Sliders, over what he believed were poorly written scripts. The writers decided to grant Rhys-Davies his exit halfway through the third season when his character, Professor Maximilian Arturo, was killed off.

Detective Elliot Stabler made up half of the team on Law and Order: SVU. So, rightfully, fans were crushed when Meloni made a graceful exit before season 13 when his character retired from the police force. Meloni revealed his departure from NBC was purely due to contract negotiations. "I left with zero animosity, but I did leave clearly and open-eyed in going forward and finding new adventures," Meloni told The New York Post.

Dan Stevens decided to leave behind his beloved character after his initial three-year contract and filmed an epic death scene as a result. "We were always optioned for three years," Stevens told The Telegraph. "And when that came up it was a very difficult decision. But it felt like a good time to take stock, to take a moment. From a personal point of view, I wanted a chance to do other things.”

Kal Penn's departure from House was anything but ordinary. Instead of leaving for different roles or over contract negotiations, Penn was offered a position in President Obama's administration. The actor started his new career in the White House's Office of Public Liaison and Dr. Lawrence Kutner was killed off of the hit show in season 5.

Steve Carell made a name for himself as the boss of Dunder Mifflin, but after season 7, he handed in his resignation. Many thought the actor left to pursue a film career, but in a 2010 BBC interview, Carell said his contract was up after the show's seventh season. He hadn't intended to leave, but after NBC didn't offer up negotiations, he decided to move on.

Daniel Dae Kim was one of the stars of Hawaii Five-O for seven seasons, however his pay didn't match his white costars. After the network rejected his request to renegotiate his salary, the actor decided it was time to leave the show.

Rob Lowe's career was revived after joining The West Wing as Sam Seaborn in 1999. But he left the political drama in 2002, reportedly over a pay dispute. The actor made a statement at the time, thanking producers for allowing him to leave the show gracefully. "We were a part of television history and I will never forget it," he said in the statement.

When Michael died suddenly in season 2 of Jane the Virgin, fans were up in arms and rumors that Brett Dier was motivated to move on to other projects began popping up. Little did they know, Dier would make a comeback in the final season. The producer's thought of the idea in season 1 and Dier was instantly on board.

Justin Chambers was one of the few original cast members left on Grey’s Anatomy by season 16. But after 15 years, the he decided to move. In a statement, he told fans there was no dramatic reason for his exit: "There's no good time to say goodbye to a show and character that's defined so much of my life for the past 15 years. For some time now, however, I have hoped to diversify my acting roles and career choices. And, as I turn 50 and am blessed with my remarkable, supportive wife and five wonderful children, now is that time."

Most fans were crushed by Rory and Jess’s breakup in season 3, but Milo Ventimiglia admitted he was ready to say goodbye. "I was the one who actually tried to get [the character] Jess killed, and they didn't go for it. [I wanted to] get him hit by a bus, a knife in the side of the neck, something bad. [Laughs.] I don't know—guess I thought it would be kind of cool," Ventimiglia told E! News. Thankfully for us, Ventimiglia reprised his role a few times after leaving.

John Amos, who played James Evans Sr. on the '70s sitcom Good Times, was killed off in season 3. Although the actor wasn’t necessarily keen on leaving at first, he explained that the decision was made because he was in a constant struggle with the writers on the direction they were taking the show.

When Mandy Patinkin became unhappy with his character, Jason Gideon, he reportedly stopped showing up. The writers decided to kill off his character with him getting shot off-camera. That's one way to get written off of a show.

Dominic Monaghan was happy about his character's dramatic drowning at the end of season 3, as he was ready to move on. "Obviously, there are huge positives to being involved in a show like Lost. We film in Hawaii, and the lifestyle there is a really fantastic thing. But, to be honest, as an actor I've been kind of frustrated for a while. I've wanted to do a little bit more," Monaghan told TV Guide. "More than anything else, I have to [go] where the best work is going to be for me. And some of the best work for me [on Lost] was going to be done in my leaving the show."

Although fans weren’t thrilled with Hank Schrader's death, it was apparently Dean Norris's idea. "I called [series creator] Vince [Gilligan] and I said, 'Hey man, maybe Hank should die in the first eight. Wouldn’t that be a great ending?,'" Norris told The National Post. Apparently, the actor was happy to leave, as the show's split season 5 (two sets of eight episodes) was going to conflict with other projects he had lined up.

Lance Sweets was beloved on Bones for 10 seasons. However, Daley asked to be killed off when the opportunity to direct came around. Daley went on to remake the movie National Lampoon's Vacation to kick off his directorial career.

Another Lost actor decided it was time for him to leave the island in season 3, even though the show's creator didn't necessarily agree. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje played Mr. Eko and the reason for his departure boiled down to the actor feeling like his character's story was complete. "In a perfect world it would've been great to have Mr. Eko for a little longer. But it was the best time to go our separate ways," executive producer Carlton Cuse told Entertainment Weekly.

Dr. Joel Goran was killed off of the medical drama, after deciding he had to take a step back from his busy filming schedule of not just Saving Hope, but also The Originals. "Most actors who are No. 2 on the callsheet of any show with anywhere between 18 and 22 episodes a year are exhausted from the one show. I was doing 40-42 episodes of TV a year, bouncing between two shows," Gillies told The TV Junkies. "So I put it in [the Saving Hope writers'] minds, and then they approached me later on in the season and surprisingly they sort of acquiesced."

We said goodbye to Troy Barnes after five seasons, as Donald Glover's music and film careers were taking off. "I remember vividly when Donald played me some music in his car — this was probably season 3 at some point — that he was working on, and it wasn't like one of your friends playing you a mixtape and you being like, 'Oh, that's pretty good,'" says Pudi. "I think this was 'Heartbeat' ... And I was like, 'Oh, this is like real good, Donald.' And immediately, I was like, 'Oh, you're gone,'" Danny Pudi told Entertainment Weekly.

Josh Charles didn't take leaving the show lightly. It was about a year before he finally confirmed his exit after not renewing his contract when it expired after season 4. "Look, it's a very long season doing a network television show, and somewhere in year 4, I kinda felt burnt out," he told Charlie Rose during a CBS screening of the show in 2014. "That's no reflection on how I feel about the show, it’s just more about what I want to do in my life."

Henry Blake was one of the most beloved characters on the ‘70s sitcom, before McLean Stevenson asked for him to be killed off in the season 3 finale. The actor was eager to build a name for himself outside of his strong ensemble cast. "When I left the show, the mistake was not in leaving, the mistake was that I thought everybody in America loved McLean Stevenson. That was not the case. Everybody loved Henry Blake. So if you go and do The McLean Stevenson Show, nobody cares about McLean Stevenson,” the Los Angeles Times reported him saying.

George Clooney was television's OG hot doctor on ER as Dr. Doug Ross. But after six years, Clooney felt destined for more and the actor was written out of the script at the end of season 6 so he could pursue a film career. Honestly, good call on his part.

Fans didn't see it coming when Andrew Lincoln's character, Rick Grimes, was injured, rescued, and presumed dead in 2018. Lincoln asked to leave the hit AMC drama to spend more time with his family. But the complexity of his write-off allowed him to reprise his role in a spin-off.

The news that Skeet Ulrich would not be returning to Riverdale for the show’s fifth season has fans wondering what will happen to FP Jones. Ulrich explained on an Instagram Live (per Comicbook.com) that he's leaving because he was "bored creatively." Riverdale's creator, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, said that the actor is "always welcome back in Riverdale."

While his role as Sheldon Cooper earned him a Golden Globe, along with a hefty paycheck, Jim Parsons decided season 12 would be his last. CBS tried to urge the actor to stay by offering him a $50 million contract for two years, but he declined. The show then announced that it would end with Parsons after the season 12.

Chris Messina took a step back in season 4, demoting Danny Castellano to a recurring guest role, which allowed Messina to work on other projects. "Mindy was always cool with me and understanding that in doing the show, that I wanted to have time to do other projects whether that be movies or a play or directing — I directed a movie when I was there and getting another one together — so she was always very open. She knew coming onto the show that was a worry or concern of mine, and she stuck to her word," Messina told The Hollywood Reporter.

There's no doubt that the seventh and final season of That ‘70s Show was different without Eric Foreman (Topher Grace), who was written out of the show by leaving Wisconsin for a yearlong stint in Africa. The reality was that Grace was ready to move on to film. He landed the role of Eddie Brock in Spider-Man 3 and quickly picked up steam in the movie industry.

The actor was one of the main stars on the primetime police drama, but that didn't keep him from walking away when the network didn't meet his contract demands after the show’s successful first season. He left the show in season 2 and later signed onto CSI: Miami.

How does one get written off of a sci-fi show like The X-Files? Getting abducted by aliens is one way. At least that's what happened to David Duchovny after he chose not to renew his contract after season 7. "As much as I love the show, I think for me this will be the end," he said in a statement. "I always thought five years was enough. Seven years is definitely enough."

T.R. Knight chose to leave the medical show after seeing his screen time and character development diminish and citing a "breakdown in communication" with the showrunner and writer, Shonda Rhimes. "My five-year experience proved to me that I could not trust any answer that was given [about George]," Knight told Entertainment Weekly. "And with respect, I'm going to leave it at that."

Although Chad Michael Murray started out as the main character on One Tree Hill, the actor exited the show before its final season. It was announced that Murray would not return after the star failed to renegotiate his contract with the CW network.

Columbus Short didn't exactly ask to be killed off of ABC’s hit show, but an arrest and multiple charges against him made it tricky for him to film the series. So showrunner Shonda Rhimes decided to have his murder revealed in the season 4 premiere. Years later, Short opened up about the ordeal. "I had a lot on my plate, and you know, I was using unhealthy ways to kind of self-medicate and deal with a lot of heavy duty stuff in my life, Short told PEOPLE.

Michael Weatherly, known for his quippy one-liners as Agent Anthony DiNozzo on NCIS for 13 seasons. He was written out of the show as if he was retiring from service, but in reality Weatherly was jumping to another CBS show, as the main character on Bull. "It came about at the right time. I was burnt out by NCIS and I was ready for a new challenge," he told The Hollywood Reporter at the Television Critics Association summer press tour.

Christopher Abbott's character was supposed to marry Marnie (Allison Williams). But a disagreement with the show's lead actress and creator, Lena Dunham, led to Abbott gracefully exiting from the show. "The world that Lena [Dunham] wrote was very real, especially in New York. But it wasn't as relatable for me on a personal level. It's not that I only like to play roles I know to a T, but there's something satisfying about playing parts where you really relate to the characters," Abbott told The New York Times.

Jonathan Taylor Thomas was one of the biggest stars of the early '90s, thanks to his role on Home Improvement. Which is why fans were confused when he left the show before its final season. "I'd been going nonstop since I was 8-years-old," Thomas told PEOPLE. "I wanted to go to school, to travel and have a bit of a break." Randy Taylor, was written off as doing just that, wishing his family bon voyage for an environmental study program in Costa Rica.

After playing Eric Brady for eight seasons, Greg Vaughn announced he was leaving the show on the podcast That's Awesome! With Steve and Bradford in 2020. Although his departure was said to be over contract negotiations, Vaughn said that he thought his time as Brady was "was coming to an end anyway."

Comedian T.J. Miller had been a major character in Silicon Valley since the beginning. So when Erlich Bachman was assumed dead in the show's fourth season, fans were left reeling. The show's executives made the decision for Miller’s departure citing the actor's difficulties on set. They offered him a multi-episode arc to leave, but Miller declined, which is why Erlich's finale scene was so blunt.

Harrison Ford had been playing Han Solo for decades before the character's dramatic death in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens. "I've been arguing for Han Solo to die for about 30 years, not because I was tired of him or because he’s boring, but his sacrifice for the other characters would lend gravitas and emotional weight," Ford said in an online Q&A with Entertainment Weekly in 2016.

After the third installment of the Transformers franchise, Shia LaBeouf said that he didn’t wish to be included in a fourth film. "I'm not coming back to do another one," LaBeouf told MTV News. "It still is a hot property, I think, especially coming out of the third one. So I imagine they'll reboot it at some point with someone else." And in fact, that's exactly what director Michael Bay did. Mark Wahlberg took over as the male lead, without a mention of LaBeouf's character, Sam Witwicky.

Just before the season 3 premiere, the comedian abruptly quit and his Comedy Central show was cancelled. "I was talkin' to a guy… he basically said to me that comedy is a reconciliation of paradox," Chappelle told CBS This Morning of his decision to leave the show."And I think that that was a irreconcilable moment for me. That I was in this very successful place, but the emotional content of it didn't feel anything like what I imagined success should feel like. It just didn't feel right."