Landing a role on The Walking Dead for some actors was no small feat, and honestly, that shouldn’t surprise anyone. The Walking Dead never seemed like it was the kind of show where an actor could just stroll into an audition, read a few lines, and walk out with a starring role.
Thinking back to every character introduced throughout the series, it’s clear that each actor chosen was hand-picked with absurd precision. Whether that be a main character or a minor character, each actor fit into the world so perfectly that it's hard to imagine anyone else in their shoes. But for one actor, getting that perfect fit wasn’t instant. They had to audition three separate times before finally being cast, proving just how rigorous the selection process could be.
Ethan Embry didn't get cast in The Walking Dead until his third audition
This is true! Ethan Embry, who you might recognize from movies like Can't Hardly Wait and Empire Records, didn’t land his role as Carter on The Walking Dead until his third audition for the show. Despite being a seasoned actor with years of experience under his belt and a big fan of the series, Embry wasn't just handed a part. He had to work for it, and Carter was just one of the characters he went up for.
Back in October 2015, Yahoo TV had the opportunity to speak with Embry, who broke down the long journey that led him to ultimately snag a role on the zombie series. He explained that in his first audition for the pilot, he went up for the role of Shane. Obviously, this role ended up going to the amazingly talented Jon Bernthal. But Embry didn’t let that stop him.
He went on to audition for another character later on, but still didn’t get the part. Yahoo TV attempted to ask him who that second character was, but Embry politely declined to say. However, fans have speculated that the mystery character might have been Aaron, Nicholas, or Milton. But Embry has never come out and confirmed which character it was.
"No, I wouldn’t, because it’s very different, the way they went. To me, it’s also a great example of how, no matter how great an actor does, it comes down so much to the amount of their own personality that they bring to the character. It’s totally different. You know? You could put Ethan in Daryl, you could put Ethan in Rick, but I would never be able to do what [those actors] do. It would be completely different. The [actor playing the character I auditioned for], I’d never be able to pull off what he does. It’s amazing."
What we do know is that all of that effort and persistence finally paid off when the role of Carter came along. Embry told Yahoo TV that Walking Dead executive producer Greg Nicotero and showrunner Scott Gimple specifically thought of him for the part and reached out to invite him to audition.
The audition turned out to be the one that finally clicked, and Embry would play the role of Carter in the first episode of the sixth season. Carter was a resident of the Alexandria Safe-Zone, who initially questioned Rick’s leadership and had his own doubts about how the community was being run.
He would eventually grow to respect Rick, but he ends up meeting a tragic fate when he is bitten on the face by a walker while trying to manage a herd. Rick then puts him down by stabbing him through the back of the head, a grim but merciful act that stops Carter's suffering and also prevents the herd from being drawn to his screams. That's the last we see of Carter in the zombie series.
All 11 seasons of The Walking Dead are available to stream on Netflix.