40 Beloved Actors Who Actually Asked To Leave Their Hit TV Shows

Acting is renowned for being one of the most unstable professions around. So a full-time gig on a hit TV show is surely the dream, right? Well, not for these thespians with itchy feet. From Game of Thrones graduates to Dynasty departees, here’s a look at 40 stars who quit their steady on-screen jobs and the surprising reasons why.

40. Rob Lowe – The West Wing

Pay disputes are often the main cause of an actor saying goodbye to a hit show. See The West Wing’s Rob Lowe, who, according to CNN, believed that $75,000 every episode wasn’t enough money to walk and talk at the same time. The former Brat Pack star’s career had even been on the skids until he landed the role of Sam Seaborn in the White House drama.

39. Andrew Lincoln – The Walking Dead

You can’t blame Andrew Lincoln for wanting a break from The Walking Dead. The man best known as Rick Grimes had spent no fewer than nine seasons battling zombies in the hit AMC drama. In 2016 the Brit told EW Radio that his family life was also a major factor in his decision. He said, “I have two young children, and I live in a different country, and they become less portable as they get older. It was that simple.”

38. Kal Penn – House

Here’s a reason for leaving a successful show that you don’t hear too often. Kal Penn chose to wave goodbye to his House character Dr. Lawrence Kutner to take a job in the White House. That’s right: much to everyone’s surprise, the star of stoner comedy franchise Harold and Kumar landed a job as a staff member of the Obama administration.

37. McLean Stevenson – M*A*S*H

You have to credit McLean Stevenson for his honesty. Back in the ’70s, the actor believed he’d outgrown his Henry Blake character in hit comedy M*A*S*H. Several years later, though, Stevenson admitted to newspaper The Los Angeles Times that he’d been a little hasty. He said, “When I left the show, the mistake was not in leaving; the mistake was that I thought everybody in America loved McLean Stevenson. That was not the case. Everybody loved Henry Blake.”