Chad Coleman as Tyreese – The Walking Dead_Season 5B, Gallery – Photo Credit: Frank Ockenfels 3/AMC

“When Robert Kirkman was asked if Tyreese was going to be on the show, he literally said, ‘Only if Chad Coleman can play him.’” – Gale Anne Hurd

AMC has released a beautiful tribute video honoring Chad Coleman and his portrayal of Tyreese. “Chad has presence. He’s big and he has just so much power and command.” director Greg Nicotero said of Coleman.

Showrunner Scott M. Gimple, who wrote ‘What Happened and What’s Going On,’ said, “Chad Coleman is incredibly warm. He feels a great deal, he shows that feeling through his acting. Some of my favorite writing on the show has been for him.”

“I totally identify with his gentles sprite, his kindness, and his desire to see no one harmed unnecessarily,” Coleman says in the video.

“Yeah, I wanted to die. I stepped out into a crowd of those things, and I wanted to take everything out on them till they took me.” Chad goes on to say that “The Grove” was the greatest television experience of his life.

At the end of the video, Chad had this to say, “I don’t even know if I can really articulate it, man. He wasn’t for this world any longer. But the way he chose to live. I can only hope is embedded in all these other characters, and I hope they can hear him and feel him. And I hope that it will lead to choices that will help further life and get to that place where we can get that community going on and we just keep building out. So you hope that they can stand around someday and say, ‘You know, Tyreese would be very proud of us.’” The feels. 

‘The Walking Dead’ Season 5 Stars:  Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes, Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon, Danai Gurira as Michonne, Melissa McBride as Carol, Lauren Cohan as Maggie , Steven Yeun as Glenn Rhee, Lawrence Gilliard Jr. as Bob Stookey, Chandler Riggs as Carl Grimes, Josh McDermitt as Dr. Eugene Porter, Christian Serratos as Rosita Espinosa, Sonequa Martin-Green as Sasha, Michael Cudlitz as Abraham, and Alanna Masterson as Tara.

‘The Walking Dead’ airs Sundays at 9pm on AMC.