The Walking Dead star pays tribute to ‘best TV buddy ever’ after dog star dies

Daryl Dixon actor previously said co-star ‘made scenes better’

The cast of The Walking Dead are paying tribute to the show’s canine star.

It was announced by the AMC series, which ended in 2022, that Seven, who played Daryl’s imaginatively named loyal companion Dog, had died.

The social media post, which hailed Belgian shepherd Seven as The Walking Dead’s “best boy”, inspired tributes from several of the show’s stars, including Daryl actor Norman Reedus.

“Gonna miss u seven,” the actor, who currently stars in his own spin-off series, called Daryl Dixon, wrote on Instragram. After sharing several photos of himself with Seven, he posted a broken-heart emoji and added: “Best TV buddy ever.”

Other actors who paid tribute to Seven included Khary Payton, who played Ezekiel, and Lynn Collins, who starred as the villainous Leah.

Meanwhile, the series’ former showrunner Angela Kang re-shared the original post, adding a crying-face emoji.

Seven made his first appearance in the show’s ninth season. He appeared in 25 episodes in all.

Speaking to ComicBook.com about working with the canine star, Reedus said in 2018: “We just did a scene the other day that ended up being the opposite of what it was supposed to be because the dog just wanted to do something else, and it came out so much better.

“He’ll probably be running the show. It’s great! I love it. He loves me, too.”

Norman Reedus and Seven as Daryl and Dog in ‘The Walking Dead’ (AMC)

The Walking Dead drew to a close in 2022 after 11 seasons.

To date, the series has had six spin-offs, one of which, The Walking Dead: Dead City, focuses on the characters Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).

The most recent spin-off, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, reunited lead characters Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira); it’s currently available to stream in the UK on NOW.

In The Ones Who Live, viewers find Rick and Michonne still trying to find their way back to each other after being physically separated for years (or since the show’s ninth season finale, when Lincoln departed).

Lincoln is best known for his role as Mark, who is in love with Keira Knightley’s Juliet, in the 2003 romcom Love Actually.

Director Richard Curtis has since opened up about the famous scene in which Mark turns up at Juliet’s door with cue cards to reveal his feelings, telling The Independent: “I think it’s a bit weird. I mean, I remember being taken by surprise about seven years ago, I was going to be interviewed by somebody and they said, ‘Of course, we’re mainly interested in the stalker scene,’ and I said, ‘What scene is that?’ And then I was, like, educated in it,” he said.

“All I can say is that a lot of intelligent people were involved in the film at the time, and we didn’t think it was a stalker scene,” he added. “But if it’s interesting or funny for different reasons [now] then, you know, God bless our progressive world.”

Season two of Daryl Dixon – titled The Book of Carol – will star Reedus alongside Carol actor Melissa McBride.

Read The Independent’s ranking of The Walking Dead’s best characters here.