Who Plays Beta On The Walking Dead?

In the show that warned us "Don't Dead, Open Inside," there were worse things at the end of the world than "The Walking Dead" and poor signage. One of the hit show's most terrifying characters was the Whisperers' disturbing number two, and eventual leader, Beta. Like the rest of his group, Beta sneakily shuffled onto the scene in Season 9 wearing the skin of the dead and taking things a little further than most in forgetting his existence before the outbreak. Devoted to his leader Alpha (Samantha Morton) as much as his keeping his true identity secret, Beta met a grisly and well-deserved ending at the hands of Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and was a staple in delivering the scares besides the non-verbal bitey nuisances that plagued the end of the world.

But who was the brave soul that brought this brutal and straight-up unhinged character to life for 14 episodes and where did he turn up next after walkers had their way with him? Well, the talent behind Beta had already made a name for himself in another hit show and prior to that one of the best sports films ever made. In fact, this star has enough talent to even encroach on the turf of a Marvel star and deliver perhaps a better iteration of Thor than the one the world is more familiar with. There, we said it.

Joining the rank of impressive talent that brought Robert Kirkman's nightmarish world to life was Ryan Hurst, who took on the role of Beta in 2019. Taking on the role would've been a big ask for any actor, given that Beta, who at this point is so detached from humanity, that he never removes his walker-skin mask, which the star was fully invested in perfecting.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, showrunner Angela Kang explained that following a call with Hurst about the character he'd be taking on, the actor helped where he could in bringing Beta to life. "​​He even helped put together a costume for it. He's so creative and it's been so much fun," explained Kang.

Deemed "a badass" by Kang, Hurst was certainly an intimidating presence on the show and a figure of brute force that took some doing to take down. While it might be a character type that Hurst has certainly molded for himself, it was in one of his earliest roles that he made a name for himself as a more approachable and all-round good leader in what became one of the best sports movies ever made, that was stuffed with upcoming talent.

In 2000, Turk from "Scrubs," Ken from "Barbie" and Avon Barksdale from "The Wire" took to the field under the coaching of Denzel Washington and Bill Patton in "Remember the Titans" and made a touchdown with an emotional sports movie that still hits two decades later. Based on a true story and directed by Boaz Yakin, the film follows a high school football team integrating black students into an all-white team that "is on the verge of exploding.'" Leading the charge is Ryan Hurst opposite talent consisting of Ryan Gosling, Donald Faison, Wood Harris, and a young Hayden Panettiere standing watching from the sidelines.

It may well have been a now beloved stepping stone for half the cast of the film, but for Hurst, it was the foundation of a friendship that continued from in front of the camera to behind it and beyond. As Gerry Bertier, he found a kindred spirit in his on screen best friend, Julius Campbell (Harris) who in a GQ interview on the film's 20th anniversary admitted that things haven't changed. Even after all this time, the left side-strong side hasn't moved an inch. "There's nobody on this planet that I hold closer to my heart than Wood Harris." Now if like the rest of the sport-loving movie world, Hurst's performance still brings tears to your eyes, then you don't stand a chance during his time as a member of a now world-famous biker gang.

One iconic Ryan Hurst performance that isn't "Remember the Titans," it's as the stoic and struggling member of the "Sons of Anarchy," Harry "Opie" Winston. Best friend to Charlie Hunnam's Jax Teller, Hurst's gang member carried the most emotional heft throughout the show because he came so close to getting out of it. That is until he's pulled back into the Sons of Anarchy's illegal activities and finds himself behind bars with the rest of the gang, leading to what might be one of the most heartbreaking exits to a television show, maybe ever.

In Season 5, Episode 3, "Laying Pipe," the Sons need a fall guy to get released, and Opie appoints himself without hesitation sealing his fate with the now iconic "I got this." It leads to a horrific exit for the character as he's beaten to death, with Jax having to watch the whole thing play out. While it certainly adds to what makes the fifth season the bloodiest in "Sons of Anarchy" history (and maybe the least favored in its rankings), for the show's creator, Kurt Sutter, Hurst's exit was essential for the future of the show.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Sutter explained, "Knowing where I want to take my hero, and knowing how I wanted to get there, the road I wanted to travel, Jax needed that emotional upheaval — that one event that happens in a man's life that can change the course of his destiny."

By this point in his career, Ryan Hurst has undoubtedly carved out a decent section of television. It may have come as a shock to gamers then when he turned up swinging a hammer as Thor in the hit PlayStation video game sequel, "God of War: Ragnarok." The antithesis of Chris Hemsworth's diamond-cut Asgardian Avenger, through motion capture and stunning graphics, Hurst delivered a big-bellied brute of a thunder god that players were forced to take on twice in an epic battle of axes and hammers. Continuing to validate the creativity and artistry that goes into creating these titles, (and a story that Hollywood should learn from) Hurst explained to Variety the route he took in bringing his Thor to life by way of a totally different Marvel character, and one from a beloved Coen Brothers joint.

Depicting Norse gods as villains to our worn down hero, Kratos (Christopher Judge), Hurst explained how he looked to Tommy Lee Jones' Ed Tom Bell in "No Country for Old Men" to catch his own lightning in a bottle. "He was a powerful being that harbored forms of regret that manifested in his voice." To distribute that power, he then looked to another Marvel character instead of Hemsworth's hero. "There's some of that, that comes in through the saying, 'Hulk Smash," but in a more layered way. The way that I interpreted it is that you need access to superhuman amounts of strength, rage, and unpredictability."