The Walking Dead's Seth Gilliam says he received death threats for playing Father Gabriel. The long-running post-apocalyptic series has shocked fans with cliffhangers and fan-favorite character deaths since its debut nearly ten years ago on AMC. The long-delayed Walking Dead season 10 finale aired on AMC in October after its premiere was delayed back in April due to the coronavirus pandemic. Episode 16 was intended to air a week after episode 15, but production was brought to a halt, and AMC decided to expand season 10 with six additional episodes, which began airing back in February. Now season 10, episode 19, "One More," is airing Sunday night, which will see Father Gabriel Stokes (Gilliam) and Aaron (Ross Marquand) making a powerful discovery while searching for supplies to bring back to Alexandria.
Since his introduction in season 5, Father Gabriel has been disliked by many Walking Dead fans, consistently landing on "worst characters" lists. He began as a rather cowardly and disloyal member of the group, turning on Rick and the gang more than once and ultimately proving himself as untrustworthy. His backstory of abandoning his church to selfishly save himself at the start of the apocalypse made him seem all the more despicable. While Father Gabriel has noticeably developed in the past few seasons, transforming into a leader and stronger fighter, Gilliam still had his fill of backlash for his character's actions.
Speaking with Digital Spy, Gilliam revealed how Walking Dead fans could not distinguish between the actor and the character he plays, going so far as sending him death threats. Gilliam explained his experiences during the show's run, saying:
But over the years, what's been surreal to me is sometimes people not being able to see fiction from reality, and assuming I was Father Gabriel and not Seth Gilliam. When they question the choices the character made on the show, and started to send me death threats and stuff. That was surreal."
Over the past ten seasons, there have been many distinctions between The Walking Dead series and Robert Kirkman's original comics it's based off of, Gabriel's fate being one of them. In the original story, during the height of The Whisperer War, he is killed by Beta. However, what would have been Father Gabriel's death scene was avoided in the first half of season 10, and, despite his one bad eye, the character is still alive and well. Only time will tell if Gabriel makes it to season 11, which will air in late 2021.
Gilliam is not the first Walking Dead actor to receive death threats because of the character they play. Josh McDermitt, who plays Eugene on the show, previously had to quit social media due to the death threats and abuse he received online. Both Eugene and Gabriel have significantly grown on the series since their introductions, having to step up and fight for their group as many of the leader-type characters have departed. Despite how their characters are written, no one should ever have to face that kind of hatred.
Source: Digital Spy