The Walking Dead season 7: Abraham actor Michael Cudlitz reveals when the cast found out who Negan kills

'We filmed the scene about a year ago'

The Walking Dead’s season seven premiere has proven controversial with fans of the series, many believing it to be ‘too bleak to enjoy’.

Following the episode debuting on AMC, the Parents Television Council claimed it was ‘too violent’, advocating for the show to be given a more explicit TV rating.

Why the palaver? Because - following season six’s infamous cliffhanger - two fan favourites were finally beaten to death by Negan using his faithful bat, Lucille. **Spoilers ahead **

The two characters who were killed after months of waiting? As predicted by many fans, Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) and Glenn (Steven Yeun) were the ones to go.

Of course, in between season six and seven, the cast was asked at every opportunity whether they knew who Negan killed, answering every time by claiming they were being kept in the dark.

Turns out, that was a lie. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Cudlitz revealed the cast knew exactly who was going to die over a year ago.

"I found out about a year and three months ago when they told me they were going to take me and Steven out at the end of season six," he told the publication. "They were talking about doing it at the end of season six or the start of season seven; [showrunner] Scott M. Gimple wasn't sure how to structure it for the greatest impact.”

He added: ”We filmed the scene about a year ago. It was the last episode of last year. We finished just before Thanksgiving. We've been sitting with it for a year now. We were able to spread the rumour that not even the cast knew what was going to happen. We said we filmed every cast [death] scene just in case and were redoing contacts. All that was a lie. It allowed us not to defend or hide who was dead for five months, which was great.”

Meanwhile, one actor who was killed off in the opening episode revealed why they wanted to die. The Walking Dead returns next Monday on FOX in the UK.