Hilarie Burton recently opened up about the emotional challenges behind her surprise return to The Walking Dead universe. The 42-year-old actress reprised her role as Lucille, Negan’s wife, on TWD: Dead City in the June 15 episode. Speaking with PEOPLE, Burton revealed how deeply personal the filming experience was for both her and her husband, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who plays Negan on the show, and just handled a major loss in life.
“Please forgive me if I get upset,” Burton shared. “I just watched it. I didn’t see it on Sunday. This was a really hard episode to shoot.”
The emotional scene featured Negan hallucinating Lucille after sustaining a head injury. In that vulnerable moment, the usually tough character broke down, apologizing for failing to save his cancer-stricken wife.
According to Burton, the raw emotion fans saw on screen came from a very real place.
“What people didn’t know is that, throughout this season, Jeff’s dad was dying. He had died like six days before we shot this scene,” she revealed. “Watching this man that I love so much hold that grief and really have to focus at work and hold it together, I wouldn’t cry except I just watched it.”
Burton praised Morgan’s strength, saying, “It was really, really amazing to watch the person you love most in the world be able to do that. He was able to channel a lot of the grief he was feeling for his dad into this episode while not letting anyone down.”
Morgan’s father, Richard, passed away on July 2 after a brief illness. The Walking Dead team supported Morgan by giving him time off to say goodbye in California before returning to film.
Reflecting on the timing, Burton noted, “We had no idea when we got the news that his dad was sick that we would have to film this scene within days of seeing him for the last time. And we definitely had no idea this episode was going to air on Father’s Day. It was a lot.”
Burton also highlighted how their family helped Morgan through the tough days. Their children, George and Gus, were on set to support him.
“Our kids were there with us and in his trailer hanging out, so he could just be silly with them in between every take,” she said. Their 15-year-old son Gus, an aspiring actor, even stayed behind after Burton wrapped to shadow the director and be by his father’s side.
“The balm that eases loss like that is being surrounded by the people who are still here and that we get to love on. Our son stepping up and being there for his dad at work was also a very cool turn of events,” Burton shared.
She reflected on the powerful moment by adding, “I wish people knew what was going on behind the scenes when they see someone’s work. Anybody who’s in this line of work is usually tapping into something hard. The thing he was tapping into was really hard, but also very fresh. Working when you’re raw like that is a special skill set.”
