The Walking Dead: Who is Sam Witwer?

Sam Witwer is making headlines for his portrayal of Starkiller in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. This installment of the Star Wars franchise is crucial to understanding the franchise as a whole. Witwere voices this character, as he did with Darth Maul in Rebels. Whenever I see his name, I am reminded of his role in TWD Universe and how it could have been so much more.

The Walking Dead series has featured several actors whose parts weren’t significant regarding longevity but impacted viewers. One of those characters was portrayed by actor Sam Witwer. He was featured in season 1 during two episodes and didn’t even have a speaking part. But fans still talk of his role today and the roles he would go on to play after his time on The Walking Dead. 

Witwer starred in season 1 episodes “Days Gone Bye” and “Guts.” These are the first two episodes of the series, and he played the role of a soldier who has become known as the Tank Walker. He is the military walker who was assumed dead inside the tank that Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) took refuge in when he entered Atlanta and was overrun by the undead.

The sad part about his role is that his friend, Frank Darabont, the showrunner for the series during season 1, had a fantastic idea to tell the origin story of this Tank Walker.

Darabont pitched the idea of a Black Hawk down with zombies to Witwer. He then cast him in the uncredited role of the walker with the intention of using him in season 2, showing the story that leads to him being in the tank. Witwer also shares that the grenade in that tank is the one that saves the survivors at the CDC at the end of season 1. You can watch the video of Witwer telling the whole story via YouTube. He also states this was the first time he has been able to talk about this publicly.

Witwer also starred in Darabont’s The Mist as Private Jessup.

Sam Witwer – other roles

Witwer began his career in a Chicago Bulls commercial and would then star on ER. He is well known for several roles, including Crashdown in Battlestar Galactica and Neil Perry in Dexter. Other roles you will see him include Smallville, Being Human, Once Upon a Time, and Supergirl. 

As a lifelong Star Wars fan, he has lent his voice to many films, shows, and video games within the franchise, including the recent The Book of Baba Fett series on Disney+, Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Unfortunately, we never got to see Witwer’s Tank Walker story, as it would have been a fascinating side story, giving a name to the walker in the tank and following the grenade that would save Rick and the group at the end of season 1.

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