Who portrayed Axel in season 3 of The Walking Dead series?

The third season of The Walking Dead premiered in 2012 and introduced a brand new setting to the series. After the second season loss of Hershel's (Scott Wilson) farm, Rick's (Andrew Lincoln) group was desperate to find a new location, especially with the impending birth of "his" child with his wife Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies). They would seek shelter at what they assumed was abandoned, the West Georgia Correctional Facility.

The prison was overrun by undead inmates inside the fences, but Rick and the group were quick to remove them and gain access to the outermost fenced area. Eventually, they breached the prison and took up cell block C as their new living quarters.

By the end of episode 1 of season 3, Rick was forced to amputate Hershel's leg, after he was bitten by a walker. He did this to stop the spread of the virus to ensure that Hershel wouldn't reanimate. The entire event was witnessed by 5 men locked in the prison's cafeteria, one named Axel, exclaims, "Holy shit!"

This was the introduction of five prisoners who had been locked away since the outbreak: Tomas (Nick Gomez), Big Tiny (Theodus Crane), Andrew (Markice Moore), Oscar (Vincent Ward), and Axel, portrayed by Lew Temple. The prisoners didn't last long, and many fans would love to see a flashback episode revealing more of these characters' stories.

Lew Temple - The Walking Dead and more

Lew Temple portrayed the character Axel in season 3 of The Walking Dead. He tried to pull his weight with Rick's group as he also tried to process what had gone on in the world during the 10 months he and the other prisoners were locked in the cafeteria. In the end, just as he was becoming friends with Carol (Melissa McBride), he was shot in the head by the Governor (David Morrissey).

Temple, a Texas native, whose first love is baseball, and in 1982 he was the MVP at Rollins College, where he graduated in 1985. Although not quite cut out for the big leagues, he continued his work in the sport where he became minor league bullpen catcher for the Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros. He would also scout for the New York Mets and become the Assistant Director of Minor League Operations and Scouting for the Astros until 1993.

Some of his first roles included Angels in the Outfield, Jason's Lyric, The Newton Boys, and more. He made a name for himself as Locus Fender in the action film, Domino (2005), and as the manager of the diner in Waitress (2007).

In 2005, he starred in his first Rob Zombie horror film, The Devil's Rejects, as the character Adam Banjo. He has also appeared in two other Rob Zombie horrors, Halloween (2007) as Noel Kluggs and 31 (2016) as Psycho-Head. His other roles in the horror genre include The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, Trailer Park of Terror, House, Pig Killer, The Black Mass, Impuratus: The Devil's Confession, and more.

More recently Temple has appeared in Unspeakable: Beyond the Wall of Sleep, Lifelines, The Third Saturday in October, and Murder at Yellowstone City.