Michael Rooker Claims Walking Dead Killed Merle Because AMC Was Cheap

Michael Rooker, who played Daryl Dixon's brother Merle in AMC's The Walking Dead, said AMC killed his character off because the network is cheap.

Former The Walking Dead star Michael Rooker blames his character's early demise on AMC's budget, calling the network "cheap."

Rooker played Daryl Dixon's contemptuous older brother Merle in the first and third seasons of the show and was written out of the series after showrunner Glen Mazzara killed him off in the penultimate episode of Season 3. While attending a panel at Wales Comic Con, his TWD character came up, and Rooker didn't mince words.

"I don’t prefer either. I made more money on Guardians [of the Galaxy]," Rooker said of his role as the blue-skinned space alien Yondu. "Walking Dead, they were cheap. AMC was very cheap." Laughing, Rooker added, "That’s probably why they killed me off, because they knew I was gonna get more money the next season."

Rooker's latest project, Fantasy Island, is a Blumhouse remake of the popular series that aired in the early '80s. The movie follows a group of tourists as they seek to make their fantasies come true, but quickly realize they are living a real nightmare.

Directed by Jeff Waldow, Fantasy Island stars Michael Peña, Lucy Hale, Maggie Q, Portia Doubleday, Jimmy O. Yang, Michael Rooker, and Ryan Hansen. The film arrives Feb. 14.