Actors Who Were Never The Same After Their Co-Stars Died

When a beloved actor dies, millions of people who didn't even know them personally grieve in their own way, moved by the connection we feel after spending hours getting to know a star through their work. Even if you never met them in real life, they can still have a huge impact on you, and the sadness that fans feel after a loss is very real. But for their co-stars, showing up to work without the person you've been acting alongside for years is tragic. And even if former co-stars haven't been on the same set for a long time, it's not easy to get over the loss of someone who you shared such a special bond with.

Sometimes, the death of an actor can change their co-stars' lives forever. No matter how glamorous someone's life seems on the outside, grief is always difficult to process, and it's absolutely no different for Hollywood's biggest stars. These actors were never quite the same after their co-stars passed away — but no matter how sad the loss, their work on screen will keep the memories alive.

He rose to prominence while starring as Finn on the musical sitcom "Glee," but in 2013, Cory Monteith passed away after battling with addiction since his teenage years. The entire cast struggled to deal with the loss, especially his co-star Lea Michele, whom he had been dating at the time of his death. Michele said that eventually, not acting was more painful than getting back in front of the camera. She wanted to be surrounded by the "Glee" cast again — after all, she and Monteith both thought of the rest of the cast and crew as family. Plus, she said that Monteith would not have wanted her to give up on her passion.

"There is an empowerment that comes with grief — at some point you find it. It's very hard but you will find it, and I think at a certain point you can choose to sort of fall from this or you can choose to rise," Michele explained on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" at the end of that year. "And that's what I'm just trying to do my best for him, because I know that's what he would have."

Michele still keeps Monteith's memory close. She even got a tattoo that says "Finn," and she posts tributes to him every year.

For years, Bob Einstein played Marty Funkhouser on the long-running hit HBO comedy "Curb Your Enthusiasm," catching Larry David in countless gaffes. In January 2019, Einstein sadly passed away after battling cancer. The death of Einstein shocked and saddened the cast. "Never have I seen an actor enjoy a role the way Bob did playing Marty Funkhouser on 'Curb,'" said Larry David. "It was an amazing, unforgettable experience knowing and working with him. There was no one like him, as he told us again and again." Fans will undoubtedly miss his iconic, gravelly voice and the humor he brought to the show.

Despite the tragedy, Jeff Garlin told The Daily Beast that they wouldn't bring up Einstein's death during the show's 10th season because "There is no melancholy on 'Curb Your Enthusiasm.'" Basically, they never planned to "kill off" the character — doing so would require a degree of earnestness that would break the show's signature irreverence, and a bad "Curb" episode would've been a crummy way to honor Einstein's memory.

Bea Arthur and Betty White worked together on the hilarious NBC sitcom "The Golden Girls," which featured a group of over-50 women living together and finding humor in their old (or old-ish) age. There were always rumors of a feud simmering between Arthur and White, but their co-star Rue McClanahan insisted that at the end of the day, their supposed "feud" mostly came down to artistic differences. "Bea came from a New York stage point of view. She always had what we call 'the fourth wall.' And Betty came from a television point of view. She would flirt with the audience, and pull up her skirt and say, 'Hi, sailor.' But Bea never acknowledged the audience," McClanahan explained.

When Arthur passed away in 2009, White was as heartbroken as any die-hard "Golden Girls" fan. "I knew it would hurt, I just didn't know it would hurt this much," White said after Arthur's death. Yes, Arthur and White would butt heads behind the scenes occasionally, but White had a great respect for Arthur, who was greatly missed.

When Disney Channel star Cameron Boyce passed away after a fatal seizure, it was a harrowing wake-up call for his co-stars. Boyce died young — he was only 20, and he should have had an amazing life and career ahead of him. His "Descendants" co-stars couldn't believe that he was gone. Dove Cameron, who played Mal and considered Boyce a close friend, said that his death reminded the cast just how precious life is. In the wake of his passing, the "Descendants" cast members were going out of their way to spend more time together. "I think that's kind of how we're all feeling is ... we want to make an effort," Cameron explained to Today. "It really reminds you how important everybody is, how important your one life is."

Cameron also got a tattoo to remember Boyce. She chose a design with a flower coming out of gun — an international symbol for peace and anti-war movements. She stated that Boyce was working with an organization against gun violence before his death, and she wanted to memorialize him as someone who cared deeply about peace.

As Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher inspired a generation of sci-fi fans who fell in love with their "Star Wars" characters. When the franchise was revived with "The Force Awakens" in 2015, legions of fans were thrilled to see them return to their roles and bring the story to life for a new generation of fans. But when Fisher passed away in December 2016, Hamill's view on the films changed.

There's no doubt that Hamill loved Fisher, and he cherished their friendship for life. However, her death affected his memories of "Star Wars," and he didn't have much motivation to return for future films. "It really has tarnished my ability to enjoy it to its fullest," Hamill told ABC News in 2018. "I don't care any more on that level, because Han Solo is gone, Luke is gone and you just can't get the band back together the way you wanted it to be, and it shouldn't be that way... Rather than being sorry that we can't have more of her, I'm just grateful that we had the time with her that we did." 

Of course, Fisher did appear in "The Rise of Skywalker" via archive footage, and Hamill made one last cameo as Luke's Force ghost, bringing the "Skywalker Saga" to a close after 42 years.

John Ritter played Kaley Cuoco's father on the sitcom "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter," and while they weren't actually related, he still felt like a father figure to her. His untimely death due to complications with a heart condition left her feeling lost, and today, she still thinks about him all the time.

Cuoco couldn't believe that Ritter was gone, and the cast addressed his death in a touching episode of "8 Simple Rules." Cuoco continued moving forward in her acting career, landing a major role as Penny on "The Big Bang Theory."

But she never forgot about her wonderful experiences of working with Ritter. On the 15th anniversary of his death in 2018, she revealed that there isn't a day that goes by when her memories with Ritter don't make her laugh. At the same time, she still mourns his loss. "I don't think she ever talks about him without tears in her eyes," said her "Big Bang Theory" co-star Jim Parsons. "She's emotionally stable, but there was definitely a fatherly bond."

When fans of "Riverdale" and "Beverly Hills, 90210" got the news that actor Luke Perry had passed away after having a stroke, millions of people were distraught over his death — and his former co-star Shannen Doherty took the loss hard on a deeply personal level. Doherty had worked with Perry on "Beverly Hills, 90210," where the pair played longtime love interests. Although the original show had ended many years before, Doherty was still devastated by Perry's death. He had supported her through the thick and thin, and stood by her side during her initial cancer diagnosis.

When the "90210" reboot was announced, Doherty originally did not plan on going back — she did not think that the show really needed her. But when she got the news about Perry's passing, she had a new perspective. She decided that she would return for the reboot after all, and it would be the perfect way to keep his memory alive. "When Luke passed away, things drastically changed for me and I felt like it was a great opportunity to honor him," the actress revealed. "And I'm really glad I made that decision because now I get to sit up here with a lot of people that I respect and love."

Sadly, actress Debbie Reynolds passed away only one day after the death of her daughter Carrie Fisher. Fans of both women couldn't believe the news, and Debra Messing, who played Reynolds' daughter Grace on the sitcom "Will & Grace," knew that her life would never be the same. From the moment Messing met Reynolds, she was struck by her bold presence. "Debbie was really indescribable. She would come onstage and she was a broad in the greatest sense," Messing told Entertainment Weekly. "She always was entertaining and singing and dancing and she was running off and doing a one-woman show, you know, 300 days of the year. It was just crazy."

Messing always looked up to Reynolds, and she knew that they couldn't let new episodes of the "Will & Grace" revival go by without taking the time to honor Reynolds. The writers created an episode about Grace wanting her father to hold on to her childhood home rather than selling it, because she didn't want to lose those memories of her mother. Now, she still posts occasional tributes to Reynolds — it's clear that she will never forget the time they spent together on set.

Alan Rickman was known for many different roles, but millions of people knew him best as Severus Snape in the "Harry Potter" films. When he passed away in early 2016, fans of the series were heartbroken. He brought this character from the books to life, and he played the sinister role so well that it was hard to believe he was such a kind and funny man when the camera wasn't rolling. Just take it from Daniel Radcliffe, who grew up playing Harry Potter alongside Rickman.

"Alan Rickman is undoubtedly one of the greatest actors I will ever work with. He is also, one of the loyalest and most supportive people I've ever met in the film industry," Radcliffe explained in a statement after Rickman's death. "As an actor he was one of the first of the adults on 'Potter' to treat me like a peer rather than a child. Working with him at such a formative age was incredibly important and I will carry the lessons he taught me for the rest of my life and career." Radcliffe said that Rickman had always supported him, whether he was working on a movie or a play, and that he wouldn't be the actor he is today without Rickman's guidance.

When Paul Walker died in a car accident, his "Fast and Furious" co-star Vin Diesel lost a best friend. After Walker's death, Diesel visited Walker's mom — her house was his first stop after hearing the news. "His mother hugged me and said I am so sorry ... I said sorry? You're the mother who lost a son?" Diesel shared in a post on Facebook. "She said yes, but you lost your other half..."

While filming "Furious 7," Diesel admitted that shooting the barbecue scene at the end of the film was very emotional. In fact, he had to step away for a few moments because he just couldn't believe that Walker wasn't there on set with the rest of the cast. "I had never done a barbecue scene without him," Diesel told USA Today, continuing, "And I just cracked and broke down and had to walk off set to collect myself. That was the only time I wasn't strong enough to keep it together." But the entire cast and crew wanted to make sure that they paid homage to Walker throughout the film, finishing production with help from the actor's brothers and ending the story with a touching tribute to their departed comrade.

Harold Ramis and Bill Murray were an unstoppable comedy duo. They worked together on films like "Ghostbusters" and "Stripes," and it seemed like everything they touched turned to gold. Sadly, the pair had a serious falling out while working together on "Groundhog Day." They didn't speak for over two decades after. Sometimes in interviews, Ramis would admit that he missed their friendship, and that he hoped they could be friends again one day. For the longest time, it looked like they would never reconcile.

But when Murray found out that Ramis was on his deathbed, everything changed. His brother convinced him that he had to go visit Ramis, Murray listened, and the two finally made up. Upon his death, Murray reminisced on their many achievements together. "Harold Ramis and I together did the 'National Lampoon Show off Broadway,' 'Meatballs,' 'Stripes,' 'Caddyshack,' 'Ghostbusters' and 'Groundhog Day.' He earned his keep on this planet," Murray said. "God bless him."

Superhero films haven't always earned glowing critical reviews — particularly in a pre-2008 world — but Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins" sequel "The Dark Knight" was an exception. Heath Ledger played the Joker to Christian Bale's Batman, and although both actors were lauded for their performances, Ledger's take on the Joker truly stood out. Bale had great respect for Ledger's talent — he was a truly gifted actor, and that was perhaps never more evident than it was in Christopher Nolan's game-changing epic.

When Ledger died several months before the release of the film, Bale was shattered. "He was somebody who I'd been seeing on a daily basis for months," Bale told Parade. "It takes a long time to accept that someone's gone, when all body and mind are telling you that this is somebody you will know for a great deal of time. He was something of a kindred spirit to myself." 

Bale was disgusted by the way the media covered Ledger's death, and he hoped that people could move past it and view his work on "The Dark Knight" as a celebration of his life. It seems like Bale's wish came true — it came as a surprise to no one when Ledger posthumously won an Oscar for the role.

The news of Robin Williams' death in 2014 shocked everyone. It was hard to believe that the man who had spent decades making everyone laugh was gone. Matt Damon, who had worked with Williams on the Academy Award-winning film "Good Will Hunting," was particularly affected by the loss. 

Damon said that he felt that he owed his success to Williams, and there was no way for him to repay Williams for taking a chance on working with him and Ben Affleck on "Good Will Hunting." He was regretful that he had fallen out of touch with Williams in the years leading up to his death. "I think everyone who wasn't there with him at the end feels bad that they didn't see it coming," Damon said in an interview with Yahoo! News. "I hope I become better at checking in with my friends, and I hope that we as a country get better at checking in with each other, to prevent this kind of thing."

For years, Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner worked side by side on "Star Trek," playing Spock and Captain Kirk. They were friends for many years, yet they eventually grew apart, and the two actors even stopped speaking. But when Nimoy died in 2015, Shatner admitted that they'd never mended their friendship — and he was heartbroken over the fact that now he'd never have the chance. To this day, Shatner says he doesn't know why Nimoy distanced himself from him.

"Until the day I die, I will still wonder what caused that rift," Shatner said in an interview with the New York Daily News. "After all the years we had spent together, after the bond we had forged, what could I have done that was so irreparable that he couldn't even talk to me about it?... I just don't know, and it is sad and it is permanent. I don't know why he stopped talking to me."

When the news broke that "Sopranos" star James Gandolfini had passed away in Rome after suffering a heart attack, his fellow cast members were devastated. Tony Soprano is an iconic TV character, and nearly two decades after the finale aired, there's no denying that "The Sopranos" has had a noticeable influence on prestige TV.

After hearing about Gandolfini's death, his co-star Lorraine Bracco, who famously played Tony's therapist Dr. Melfi, felt like she needed to take this moment as a "wake-up call." Before Gandolfini died, she had already lost both of her parents within one week of each other. She decided that she had to turn her life around and start practicing healthier habits. Bracco connected with a friend who had similar goals, and the two embarked on the journey together. She ended up writing a book about the experience titled "To the Fullest: The Clean Up Your Act Plan to Lose Weight, Rejuvenate and Be the Best You Can Be."

Beloved actor Philip Seymour Hoffman tragically overdosed and passed away in 2014. Among the countless peers who mourned him was George Clooney, who worked with Hoffman on his film "The Ides of March" and said that he loved directing Hoffman because he "gave options" — he was always willing to test out a new approach to a scene, which isn't the case with every actor.

In an interview with ABC News, Clooney stated that the last time he saw Hoffman was a few months before his death. The two had dinner together in Berlin, and Clooney noticed that Hoffman wasn't quite acting like himself — but he didn't realize just how much his friend was struggling. "He seemed to be having a tougher time, you know?" Clooney said. "And there's no understanding what goes on in an individual's mind in their lives." 

Clooney admitted that he couldn't help but think of Hoffman every time he was in New York City — something about it would always remind him of his old friend. He had to visit a few days after Hoffman's death to promote his film "The Monuments Men," which was a very difficult trip.

John Belushi's death in 1982 was a tragedy for his fans and the many people who had been lucky enough to work with him — but none of his former co-stars took the loss harder than Dan Aykroyd. Aykroyd and Belushi worked side by side for years, and whether they were performing on "Saturday Night Live" or making music as the Blues Brothers, the two were an unbeatable comedy duo. Although Aykroyd knew Belushi struggled with addiction, he had always hoped his friend would somehow be able to turn over a new leaf.

Decades after Belushi's death, Aykroyd still wishes that somehow things had gone differently for Belushi, and he's never far from Aykroyd's thoughts. Later in life, Aykroyd co-founded a chain of music venues called the House of Blues, and Aykroyd has publicly wished that Belushi was still around to be a part of it. "I think about him every damn time I walk into a House of Blues," Aykroyd said in an interview with The Guardian. "'Why aren't you here, man, to enjoy all this?"'

"Stand By Me" is a classic '80s film, and the cast grew close while filming — but after shooting wrapped, Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Cory Feldman, and Jerry O'Connell went their own separate ways. Less than a decade after its release, Phoenix died of a drug overdose, and many years later, Wheaton admitted that while he was "shocked and horrified," he "wasn't completely surprised."

"I didn't feel a real sense of loss at the time — the River I knew and loved had been gone for a long time at that point — but I felt sad for his family, and angry at the people around him who didn't do more to help him help himself," Wheaton wrote. But 25 years after the release of "Stand By Me," the cast reunited to watch their commentary for a commemorative Blu-ray edition of the movie. Wheaton said he finally felt the full impact of River's death at this reunion.

"That's what it took to make his death and his absence a real thing that I could feel, instead of an event that I wasn't part of but am forced to talk about more often than I'd like," Wheaton wrote. But despite feeling intense grief, Wheaton was grateful for the reunion and the realizations it brought to him — he just wished that River could have been there, too.

Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart were two of the biggest stars of the classic Hollywood film era — it almost seemed like fate that they would fall in love. After working together on the film "To Have and Have Not" in 1944, sparks were flying — which was somewhat complicated by the fact that Bogart was married at the time. Shortly after the film premiered, Bogart divorced his wife, and married Bacall just a few months later.

Sadly, after just over a decade of marriage with Bacall, Bogart passed away in 1957. Both Bacall and Bogart famously had affairs while married to each other, but their chemistry was still undeniable. Bacall remarried a few years after Bogart's death, yet her second husband, Jason Robards, still referred to her as "The Widow Bogart." She never truly got over Bogart, and in her memoir, "Be Myself," Bacall wrote, "No one has ever written a romance better than we lived."

When Chadwick Boseman passed away at the age of 43 from colon cancer, his fans were stunned. Since his initial diagnosis four years earlier, Boseman had continued acting while undergoing chemotherapy, choosing to keep his condition private rather than share it with the public. During this time, he starred in "Black Panther" and appeared in films like "Da 5 Bloods," "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," and "21 Bridges."

For Boseman's "Black Panther" co-stars, the loss was overwhelming. Michael B. Jordan, who played Killmonger opposite Boseman's Black Panther, was deeply affected by Boseman's death. "My appreciation of time has changed," Jordan said when reflecting on what he'd learned in 2020 during an interview with Vanity Fair.

"Our relationship was a very personal one and had a lot of great moments — some that I couldn't fully appreciate and fully understand until now," Jordan said. "I wish I had more time to have our relationship evolve, and grow, and become closer and stronger."

In July 2020, the death of Naya Rivera shocked "Glee" fans, who fondly remembered Rivera for playing the witty and ruthless cheerleader Santana Lopez in the musical comedy series. Rivera drowned while swimming with her son Josey, and fans poured out their condolences to her fellow "Glee" cast members, who were mourning her death.

Months later, Jane Lynch, who had played Sue Sylvester on the series, reflected on the loss. "You could have no better friend than Naya Rivera," Lynch said during an interview with Access Hollywood. Not only was Lynch grieving over Rivera's death, she also stated that her niece Megan was close with Rivera as well, leaving the two of them struggling to come to terms with what had happened. But Lynch explained that the cast has stayed very close since the show wrapped, and leaning on each other has helped them to get through this tough time.

In April 2020, the news broke that actor Sam Lloyd had passed away just over a year after being diagnosed with a brain tumor and lung cancer. Best known for his role as the nervous lawyer Ted on "Scrubs," Lloyd had gotten married shortly before his diagnosis, and he and his wife Vanessa had welcomed their first child.

Despite his serious diagnosis, Lloyd's loved ones and former co-stars hoped that he would heal somehow. Not long before his death, Lloyd's fellow "Scrubs" cast member Zach Braff ran into him and thought that he might be recovering.

"It was just a sad story because he was sick just when he had found true love and had a baby. It was just such a sad story. And I heard he was doing better, and I saw him out and about with his wife and his baby and a big smile on his face," Braff said in an interview with Extra. "And I remember having this relief like, 'Oh, thank God, he pulled through that.' And then the other day, Bill [Lawrence] told Donald and I the news, and it was just a punch in the stomach."

While starring in "Luke Cage," Mike Colter had the opportunity to work alongside Reg E. Cathey, an accomplished actor who was widely known for playing Norman Wilson in the critically acclaimed drama "The Wire." Cathey was diagnosed with lung cancer while they shot Season 2, and he passed away in February 2018 before the season was released.   

Although their time together on the show was short, Colter felt a genuine kinship with Cathey. "Reg was great," Colter said during a panel at Baltimore Comic-Con in 2018. "I wish we got a chance to spend more time together. It was like discovering a friend you didn't get a chance to really hang out with." 

Colter continued reflecting on his time with Cathey, adding, "He got diagnosed while we were filming but I watched him go from being completely healthy to being very sick and he was such a positive force... I don't know how he did it, coming on set physically being completely worn out but at the same time giving 100 percent."

Father of "The Boys" star Jack Quaid, Dennis Quaid starred in a number of '80s and '90s classics including "Innerspace" and "DragonHeart." Across his nearly 50-year career, Quaid has acted alongside such heavyweights as Meryl Streep, Al Pacino, and Michael Douglas. In 1998, he starred opposite Natasha Richardson in the remake of "The Parent Trap," and when his co-star died after a skiing accident in 2009 — survived by husband Liam Neeson — he took it hard.

In a 2018 chat with US Weekly, Quaid described Richardson as a humble, kind, and generous person. And he was almost pulled out of the interview entirely when the interviewer brought up Richardson's passing. "Now you hit my heart," moved by a mention of his late co-star. "She was such a beautiful person, such a beautiful, beautiful person. Just none of that, that actor stuff, prima donna stuff," he said of his former co-star.

"When that accident happened, it just devastated me and so many other people," Quaid told the outlet. "She had such a beautiful love, married life with Liam [Neeson], and two beautiful boys. She always had a smile on her face when she came to work. That really affected everyone around her."

"Full House" starred Bob Saget, John Stamos, and Dave Coulier as single men who team up to raise three precocious young girls after the death of their mother. Running eight seasons, the series was revived as "Fuller House" in 2016, which ran for another five, and all that time together led to lifelong friendships among the cast.

In early 2022, though, Saget died after sustaining a head injury, and his co-stars were beside themselves. Stamos seemed most affected by the loss, and he expressed his feelings in a tweet just days after Saget's death. "I am broken. I am gutted. I am in complete and utter shock. I will never ever have another friend like him." And nearly two years later, during an appearance on "The Jennifer Hudson Show" in late 2023, he talked about how it changed his perspective on life and loss.

"I went in his backyard the night he died and I said 'Bob, come on, show me a sign, show me that you're okay up there.' ... And I started to walk back and this little hummingbird came." For Stamos, this was no ordinary bird — it was a sign from his old friend to carry on his legacy of kindness.

For Jennifer Aniston and the cast of "Friends," the death of Matthew Perry in 2023, partially attributed to acute effects of ketamine, was particularly devastating; Perry's "Friends" co-stars took a proactive interest in his health years earlier when they rallied to help him deal with his addictions to alcohol and drugs in the 1990s.

While the drugs in question were prescribed to help Perry with his struggles, the incident was a reminder of all the problems the actor had faced over the years. "We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew," said a statement from the five surviving principal cast members Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer (via Today). "We were more than just cast mates. We are a family."

Separately, Aniston spoke on Instagram about the loss of Perry and how it would affect the rest of their lives. "He was such a part of our DNA. We were always the 6 of us. This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be."

Sadly, John Belushi wasn't the last member of "Saturday Night Live" to die of a drug overdose and leave his co-stars shattered. Chris Farley — another outsized comedian who became a star on the "SNL" stage — also lost his life following an overdose in 1997 just as his film career began taking off. Known for his wild antics and raucous lifestyle, many feared a tragic, Belushi-like end for Farley, but that didn't make it any easier for co-star Adam Sandler, whose life would never be the same after his friend's passing.

In tribute to his friend, Sandler wrote "Farley's Song," a ditty about the life and times of his friend, and it often isn't easy for him to get through it on stage. "The first few times we played that song, I would tear up," Sandler told the Happy Sad Confused podcast in 2022 (per Today). "I couldn't really sing it well because I'd get so emotional and then I felt it and was able to get it out there." 

Even though it's been more than 25 years since Farley died, Sandler is still learning how to cope, proving the adage that grief never totally goes away — you just learn to live with it. "I've sang it maybe a hundred times already, but it [still] rocks me."

Cop comedy "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" may be seen as a starring vehicle for "Saturday Night Live" alum Adam Samberg, but the heart of the laughs often come from co-stars Andre Braugher and Terry Crews. So when Braugher died in 2023, just two years after the show ended its eighth and final season, it sent shockwaves around Hollywood. And of Braugher's co-stars on "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," it may have been Crews who was hit hardest.

"Can't believe you're gone so soon," Crews wrote on Instagram. "I'm honored to have known you, laughed with you, worked with you and shared 8 glorious years watching your irreplaceable talent," the "Expendables" star said. Crews went on to share with his followers that Braugher was more than just a colleague and co-star, but almost something of a mentor on the set. "You taught me so much. I will be forever grateful for the experience of knowing you. Thank you for your wisdom, your advice, your kindness and your friendship. ... You showed me what a life well lived looks like."

Crews certainly wasn't the only one to share this sentiment, though. Fellow "Brooklyn" star Melissa Fumero was also heartbroken, and expressed her grief on Instagram as well. "I will remember all the times we laughed because your laugh was one of the all time greatest laughs to have ever existed ... I really thought I'd see you again."

"Mythbusters" put the Discovery Channel on the map in the 2000s as the home for eccentric science entertainment. It was led by hosts and former movie effects wizards Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, who have since become celebrity TV personalities in their own right. Alongside them were a trio of engineers: Grant Imahara, Tory Belleci, and Kari Byron. While Savage and Hyneman were famously not friends on the set (merely good working partners), Savage had a tight relationship with the trio, so when he received the news of Imahara's death in 2020 it shook him to his core.

"Like everybody else, I was gut-punched by Grant's passing last year," Savage said in a chat with Yahoo Entertainment. And that it struck amid the COVID-19 pandemic made it all the more devastating. "It felt like almost too much in the face of all the other existential crises that were going on. But those of us that were lucky enough to know Grant knew him as a lovely man of honor, who wanted to share his knowledge with everybody."

Savage has continued to talk about Imahara frequently on his podcast and YouTube channel, "Tested." Even to this day, Imahara is a frequent topic of discussion, whether it's telling stories about Imahara's antics, giving a tour of his old workspace, or showing off his championship-winning Battlebot, "Deadblow."

One of the greatest impressionists of his generation, Phil Hartman rose to superstardom on "Saturday Night Live." There, he became iconic for impressions of at least two U.S. Presidents and a caveman lawyer before moving on to star in the NBC sitcom "NewsRadio." And while the cast of that series was overwhelmed by his death in 1998 in a murder-suicide at the hands of his wife Brynn, it was his co-star Jon Lovitz — who had been friends with Hartman since before "SNL" — who hasn't been the same since.

While Lovitz was added to the cast "NewsRadio" after Hartman's death — chosen as a way of honoring Hartman and the pair's unique friendship — his time was marked by a longstanding feud with co-star Andy Dick. At one point, Lovitz blamed Dick for enabling Brynn Hartman's drug relapse that, in theory, contributed to her homicidal breakdown.

"Andy was doing cocaine, and he gave Brynn some after she had been sober for 10 years. Phil was furious about it, and then five months later, he's dead," Lovitz told Page Six. Though he apologized for saying Dick is responsible for Hartman's death, we're not sure if Lovitz apologized for an infamous incident in 2007 in which he grabbed Dick and repeatedly pushed him into a rail after the latter joked about a "Phil Hartman hex." And 25 years later, Hartman's death is something Lovitz still talks about in interviews.

The iconic British sci-fi series "Doctor Who" is no stranger to cast changes, with more than a dozen actors playing the title role over the decades. The villain known as The Master, too, has been played by nearly as many actors, but the first time the role needed to be recast it was because of the sudden death of Roger Delgado, who'd played the Master in more than 30 installments. And his death in 1973 didn't just change the character, but the life of series star Jon Pertwee, too.

Pertwee, who had played the role of The Doctor for several seasons to that point, bowed out shortly thereafter. And according to the actor himself, it was Delgado's death that convinced him it was time to move on. "Roger had been killed and I was really upset about that," Pertwee said in a 1995 interview. "I really wouldn't want to work with any other actor playing the Master. [Producer] Barry was leaving, [script editor] Terrance Dicks was leaving, and it seemed to be the end of an era." 

Though his departure meant a permanent changing of the guard for the title role, Pertwee did return for "The Five Doctors" special in 1983, as well as the "Dimensions in Time" miniseries a decade later.

"Saved by the Bell" was a cultural touchstone for anyone who grew up in the '90s. And two of its biggest stars were Mark-Paul Gosselaar as the popular preppy Zack Morris, and Dustin Diamond as awkward geek Screech. Despite being total opposites, the two characters were best friends, but once the series had its last episode, the two went their separate ways. Sadly, that made it all the more difficult for Gosselaar when Diamond died in 2021 at just 44 years old.

"A lot of people may not understand that you can work with somebody for years — you can be very close, you see this person every day for an entire season of shooting and then once things wrap, the camera stops, you just drift apart," Gosselaar said in an interview on "The Tamron Hall Show." "There's no reason other than just things happen in life and before you know it, years have passed and I think that was what happened with Dustin with the rest of the cast," Gosselaar said. But Diamond's passing seems to have made the actor want to rekindle his friendships with his former castmates, promising to get back in touch to reflect — and celebrate Diamond's life in the wake of the tragedy.

It's never easy losing a friend, but when that friend is young and an actor who is just seeing their career explode, it can be even more difficult. And that's what Felicity Jones had to deal with when Anton Yelchin died in an accident at the age of 27 in 2016. He was readying for the release "Star Trek Beyond," and had seen his star status rising over the past several years thanks to a number of strong performances, including in the 2011 romantic thriller "Like Crazy" opposite Jones. 

"Like Crazy" was a major turning point in both their careers, but it was the film that convinced Disney exec Kathleen Kennedy to cast her in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," making it a special experience — because it also sparked a special friendship with her co-star. In a 2016 interview not long after Yelchin's death, Jones spoke to the Hollywood Reporter about that friendship and how the loss turned so many lives upside down, including her own. 

"It's been devastating," Jones told the outlet. "It doesn't feel like there's any justice or there's no way of understanding it, really. ... He was just like no one else. He really was a unique soul."

Another "Saturday Night Live" alumni, Mike Myers cemented his movie star status with the 1997 comedy "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery." For the sequel, though, Myers added diminutive actor Verne Troyer in the role of Mini-Me, a pint-sized duplicate of the series' villain Dr. Evil, also played by Myers. The film would kick off a close relationship between the two actors, with Myers helping others to see that there was much more to Troyer than just his size.

"Every day you see him, you go, 'Wow that is a small human,'" Myers told Jimmy Kimmel, visibly choked up by the mention of his late co-star. "But by the end of the day, you just saw Verne. It just sort of went away. He was part of the cast and fantastic. I miss him." Myers also pointed out just how important Troyer was to the success of the 1999 film. "As written, Mini-Me is almost a prop. But he brought it up off the page, better than written," Myers revealed. 

Still, as devastated as Myers is over Troyer's 2018 death, he reminded the audience what an inspiration Troyer's life was. "He died at 49 ...  and you saw 150 years of life in this photo montage [at his memorial service]." 

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Michael K. Williams is known for his role as the anti-hero Omar Little in the acclaimed HBO drama "The Wire," but it was hardly his only work. Following a run on "Boardwalk Empire," Williams joined "Lovecraft Country," a supernatural drama where he starred alongside Jonathan Majors and Jurnee Smollett. But not long after the show's first and only season came to an end, Williams' life was cut short by a drug overdose. In the wake of his death, his former co-star Smollett had a hard time coming to terms with the tragedy.

"I still can't make sense of it," she said in a caption of a photo of Williams she posted on social media. "Perhaps it's selfish of me to want to hold onto this beautiful man that came into my life & forever changed it..." According to Smollett, there were plans for them to reconnect to celebrate the recently-concluded season of "Lovecraft Country," and she couldn't believe she wouldn't be seeing him again.

"He was supposed to be here with us this week in LA for the Emmys," Smollett said. "He was supposed to see how big [my son] Hunter is, we were gonna dance, celebrate, cry." But Smollett believes that she and her co-star had a kind of "trans-physical connection" and she found comfort in the thought of him dancing with angels.

Adapted from a comic book by Robert Kirkman, "The Walking Dead" debuted in 2010 and quickly became one of the hottest programs on television. It featured an ensemble cast, but two of its most popular characters early on were the crossbow-wielding zombie hunter Daryl Dixon — played by Norman Reedus — and world-weary farmer Herschel Greene — played by Scott Wilson, who died in 2018.

As one of the few actors to star in all 11 seasons, Reedus was perhaps most profoundly impacted by the death of Wilson. And while catching up with fellow co-star Jon Bernthal on his podcast "REAL ONES with Jon Bernthal" in late 2022, Reedus explained that his relationship with Wilson was deeper than those between most actors.

"I just loved Scott, I think because I didn't know my dad as much as I would have liked to, when I find guys that I really respect of that age, I f—ing stick to them," he told Bernthal. "I did it with Kris Kristofferson, I just love them. Scott was so open, he was so honest." And though he was regrettably unable to attend Wilson's funeral due to his daughter being born the same day, it's clear that his passing still affects Reedus to this day.

HBO's hit drama "Euphoria" helped make stars out of nearly its entire cast, including Sydney Sweeney, Barbie Ferreira, and Jacob Elordi. But as the series was readying for production on its third season in 2023, one of its biggest stars, Angus Cloud, died of an accidental drug overdose. He was just 25 years old and poised to see a huge boost in his career having just completed work on a pair of feature films. 

Cloud's "Euphoria" co-star Sydney Sweeney eulogized him on social media after his passing, and it was clear that his death wasn't going to be easy to come to terms with. "You will be missed more than you know," she said on Instagram. In December, Sweeney sat down with Glamour Magazine and opened up further on how she first heard of Cloud's death. "[My co-stars and I] were constantly on the phone with each other crying, because it was just such a shock," she said. 

But the worst feeling for Sweeney is knowing that Season 3 of the series would film without him. "I don't think it'll truly feel real or hit me until we're filming and I won't see Angus on set," she told the magazine. But she also remarked how her co-star's performances will live on, noting that lost actors like Cloud are "still alive in so many forms."