Sophie Turner, Jared Padalecki, and More Stars Who Asked to Be Written out of a Show

Connie Britton wanted her character, Rayna Jaymes, to be killed off on Nashville.

Fans were heartbroken when Connie's character died, but when she was asked if she actually wanted to leave the show, she said yes.

"It was something that had been percolating over time, and there were lots of different reasons behind it. But my priority was really making sure that the timing was right. My priority has always been Nashville. So when the show was moved to CMT and we got these great new showrunners, I was [confident] the show would be in a good place. . . I feel like Nashville can go on indefinitely," she said.

Kal Penn wanted his character, Dr. Lawrence Kutner, to be killed off on House.

While he loved working on the show, he really wanted to become more involved in politics. After he took a job working with the Obama Administration at the White House, he asked the producers to get rid of his character.

"We had a very long discussion. And I remember David saying, 'Are you telling me that you’re unhappy with the show and that you want to leave so you can go off and do a different show?' And I was like, 'Not at all. I’m actually saying the exact opposite, which is I’m having an incredible time, but there’s something aching in me to do something completely different and take a break from the acting thing for a while.' And with their blessing, we were able to work it out,” he explained.

Sophie Turner wants her character, Sansa Stark, to be killed off on Game of Thrones.

“I don’t want to survive… If you’re on Game of Thrones and you don’t have a cool death scene, then what’s the point? I think it would be really disappointing if I got to the end and I was okay,” she said.

Dean Norris wanted his character, Hank Schrader, to be killed off on Breaking Bad. 

Dean asked to be removed from the show because he wanted to move on to another comedy project. He unfortunately didn't get to film the pilot — but he still got his wish to get killed off.

“I called [the show creator] and I said, ‘Hey man, maybe Hank should die in the first eight. Wouldn’t that be a great ending?’ … When they originally picked up the 16 [episodes] I thought, ‘Great, I can do a pilot, do the 16 and then be free to do a show.’ And then at some point f–king whoever decided they were going to split it into two eights so it cut me off from doing a pilot — and I had a pilot I wanted to do,” he said.

Raymond Cruz wanted his character, Tuco Salamanca, to be killed off on Breaking Bad.

He actually found the role really difficult to play, so he let the producers know that he wanted out.

“I asked them to kill me. Honestly, I wasn’t looking forward to coming back and doing the part. It’s really difficult to pull off. They were like, ‘We want you to come back and do eight more episodes.’ And I said, ‘No. I’ll do one more and that’s it. You guys have to kill me. They’re like, 'We never heard of an actor that wanted to die.' And I’m like, 'You don’t understand. This part’s really hard,'” he said.

John Francis Daley wanted his character, Dr. Lance Sweets, to be killed off on Bones.

The actor chose to leave the show because he was offered a pretty big opportunity.

“The directing job was not something that I could walk away from. It was such a huge opportunity. It feels like a good next step in my career and my life; I always dreamed of being a director. So to be able to do something like this on such a huge scale—it’s a huge studio movie—it’s definitely not something I could turn my back on. It was a sacrifice for sure," he said.

T.R. Knight wanted his character, George O'Malley, to be killed off on Grey’s Anatomy.

The actor wasn't too happy when he noticed that his character barely appeared in the beginning of season five. He explained that there was a “breakdown of communication” between himself and the show's creator, Shonda Rhimes. Then eventually, he just decided to quit.

“There just comes a time when it’s so clear that moving on is the best decision,” he said.

Patrick Dempsey wanted his character, Derek Shepherd, to be killed off on Grey’s Anatomy.

The decision to kill his character was actually a mutual one between him and Shonda Rhimes.

“It had been long enough. It was time for me to move on with other things and other interests. I probably should have moved on a couple of years earlier. I stayed a bit longer than I should have,” he said.

Crystal Reed wanted her character, Allison Argent, to be killed off on Teen Wolf.

She left the show because she wanted to pursue more mature roles.

“I felt like, creatively, there were things I wanted to do differently, and I wanted to explore other avenues of film and TV. I wanted to jump into different characters. You know, I’m 29. So I think the age difference was something I wanted to change as well because she’s 17. I love the show so much. So I went to Jeff [Davis] and talked about it and he said, ‘We’ll write you a great ending,’” she said.

Jared Padalecki wanted his character, Dean Forester, removed from Gilmore Girls.

In 2005, he decided to leave the show so he could move on to play Sam Winchester in the CW drama, Supernatural.

Josh Charles wanted his character, William Gardner, to be killed off on The Good Wife

The actor admitted he wanted his character gone a long time ago, but because he wanted to help the writers and producers plan his exit, he kept renewing his contract for more episodes.

"I had a very short-term deal, it was renewed a couple of times over, and at the end of the fourth year my contract was up, and I chose not to renew. It was just a creative decision for me wanting to go and explore new stuff—in my life, in my career. I was always going to try to give the show a few episodes this year to help them arc it out, but I’m glad that we ended up doing more," he said.

Daniel Gillies wanted his character, Dr. Joel Goran, to be killed off on Saving Hope.

Since filming took place in Canada, it was difficult for the actor to stay close with his family in the U.S. He decided to leave the show in order to be closer to them.

"I asked to be killed at the beginning of the third season. It was a decision that was very difficult to make. I spoke to my representation and I said, ‘Look. I think we should have this discussion because I have a wife that’s American and I have a daughter that’s an American. Soon I’m going to have another son, he’s going to be an American boy. For all intents and purposes we live in the United States. And this is my home," he said.

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