If you spent any part of the last decade watching a kid in an oversized sheriff’s hat try to survive the literal apocalypse, you know Carl Grimes. He was the heart of the show. Or maybe its conscience. Depending on which season you're watching, he might have even been the character you were most frustrated with. But regardless of how you felt about the character's choices, one question always lingers for people catching up on the series or rewatching it for the tenth time: who plays Carl Grimes in The Walking Dead?
That would be Chandler Riggs.
He didn't just play a role; he basically grew up on our television screens. Riggs started the show as a wide-eyed ten-year-old in 2010 and left as a young man in 2018. It’s a wild transformation to witness. Most child actors get a few seasons before a show fizzles out, but Riggs stayed for eight years. He outlasted almost everyone else from the original Atlanta camp. It’s weird to think about, but for a huge chunk of his life, his primary job was imagining how he’d kill zombies.
How Chandler Riggs Landed the Role of a Lifetime
Landing a role on what would become the biggest show on cable television wasn't some grand, calculated move. It was kind of a whirlwind. Before The Walking Dead, Riggs had done a few things—a movie called Get Low and a television film titled The Wronged Man. But AMC’s zombie epic was a different beast entirely.
Frank Darabont, the original showrunner, saw something in Riggs. He needed a kid who could handle the heavy, often traumatic emotional lifting required by Robert Kirkman's source material. Carl wasn't just "the son." He was the future. When Riggs got the part, he was just a kid from Atlanta. The production was filming right in his backyard, which kept things somewhat grounded, even as he was becoming one of the most recognizable faces in horror history.
Riggs has mentioned in interviews over the years that he didn't really grasp the scale of the show at first. How could he? In the beginning, it was just a six-episode experiment. Then it blew up. Suddenly, he was at Comic-Con with thousands of people screaming his name.
💡 You might also like: How to Watch The Wolf and the Lion Without Getting Lost in the Wild
Growing Up in the Apocalypse
There is a very specific type of pressure that comes with being a child star on a show where people die every week. For Riggs, the set of The Walking Dead became a second home. Andrew Lincoln, who played his father Rick Grimes, became a mentor figure. Their bond wasn't just for the cameras; it was a genuine friendship that helped Riggs navigate the weirdness of puberty while being watched by millions.
Think about the "pudding" scene. You know the one. Season 4, episode 9. Carl sits on a roof, eating a massive industrial-sized can of chocolate pudding while walkers try to get to him through a window. That scene is iconic now. Riggs actually had to eat a lot of that pudding. Like, a lot. He’s joked since then that he can’t really stand chocolate pudding anymore. It’s those little human moments that made his portrayal of Carl so resonant. He wasn't playing a superhero; he was playing a kid trying to find a normal moment in an abnormal world.
The Shocking Exit that No One Saw Coming
We have to talk about the elephant in the room. The exit.
In the world of The Walking Dead comics, Carl Grimes is the one who survives until the very end. He’s the protagonist of the final issues. So, when the show decided to kill him off in Season 8, it sent shockwaves through the fandom. It wasn't just a plot twist; it felt like a betrayal of the source material to a lot of people.
Riggs himself was surprised.
📖 Related: Is Lincoln Lawyer Coming Back? Mickey Haller's Next Move Explained
He had recently bought a house in Georgia to be closer to the set and was planning on attending college while continuing the show. Then came the news. His character had been bitten while trying to rescue a stranger named Siddiq. It was a decision made by then-showrunner Scott Gimple to drive the narrative forward and give Rick a reason to spare Negan.
Honestly? It was controversial. It still is. Fans started petitions. Riggs' own father even voiced his frustration on social media at the time. It was a messy departure for a character who had been there since day one. But Riggs handled it with a lot of grace. He leaned into the tragedy of Carl’s final episodes, delivering some of his best acting in the series as he wrote letters to his family and prepared for the end.
Life After Carl: What Chandler Riggs is Doing Now
Once you hang up the sheriff’s hat, where do you go?
For Chandler Riggs, the answer was "everywhere." He didn't just stick to acting. He’s a huge gamer and has a massive presence on Twitch. He’s also a musician, releasing electronic music under the name Eclipse. It’s a total 180 from the grit and grime of the zombie apocalypse.
But he hasn't left acting behind entirely. Shortly after his time on The Walking Dead ended, he joined the cast of the ABC drama A Million Little Things. He played Patrick "PJ" Nelson, a role that allowed him to show a completely different range than what we saw in the woods of Georgia.
👉 See also: Tim Dillon: I'm Your Mother Explained (Simply)
He also made a very brief, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo in the series finale of The Walking Dead as a background survivor at Hilltop. It was a nice full-circle moment for the fans who had been there since the pilot. More recently, he even voiced Carl again in the The Walking Dead: Destinies video game, proving that no matter how far he goes, he’ll always be linked to that character.
Why the Character of Carl Grimes Still Matters
The legacy of who plays Carl Grimes in The Walking Dead isn't just about a name in the credits. It’s about what that character represented. Carl was the bridge between the old world and the new one. He was the first character to really show that you could grow up in this environment and still maintain your humanity.
While the show has moved on—and even ended—Carl's influence is still felt in the spin-offs like The Ones Who Live. Rick and Michonne’s entire motivation is built on the foundation Carl laid. He wanted a world where people could do more than just survive; he wanted them to live.
If you’re looking to dive deeper into Chandler Riggs' work or the history of the show, here are the best ways to do it:
- Watch the early seasons again: Specifically, pay attention to Season 2 (the farm) and Season 4. The evolution of Riggs' performance from a scared kid to a hardened survivor is Masterclass-level character development.
- Follow his music: Check out Eclipse on Spotify or SoundCloud. It’s a great way to see his creative side outside of the "Carl" persona.
- Check out his Twitch channel: He’s very interactive with his fans and often shares behind-the-scenes stories from his time on set.
- Look for his guest spots: Beyond A Million Little Things, Riggs has popped up in various independent projects and shorts that show off his versatility.
Chandler Riggs took a character that could have been a generic "kid in peril" and turned him into a legend. Whether you loved Carl or hated him, you can’t deny that the show wouldn't have been the same without him. He wasn't just a part of the cast; for many, he was the heart of the story.
Actionable Insight: If you're a fan of the franchise, the best way to honor the character's legacy is to watch the spin-off The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. It directly addresses the letters Carl wrote and the "dream" he had for the future, giving much-needed closure to his narrative arc that began all those years ago in the Atlanta woods.