Left: Law & Order: SVU
Reason: Contract Negotiations
Estimated Salary Loss: $400,000 per episode*
Christopher Meloni’s Elliott Stabler disappeared off of “Law & Order: SVU” when his character was written out with a sudden and grisly demise. Where did such a plot twist come from? It all came down to simple contract negotiations that failed to conclude.
Meloni was discontent with his salary and began negotiating for higher pay at the beginning of season twelve. The network, however, wouldn’t budge for Meloni’s request, so Meloni’s character was canned. But in a real-life plot twist, it was announced that Elliot Stabler was going to make a comeback on SVU. How this will work with his premature death on the show will be interesting to see!
John Francis Daley
Left: Bones
Reason: New Project
Estimated Salary Loss: $30,000-$40,000 per episode*
John Francis Daley was on the crime-drama show, "Bones," for seven years. Daley played the role of Lance Sweets and, in season ten, his character was expecting a baby with his girlfriend, Daisy, when he was killed off of the show.
Within the plotline, the reason for the sudden death of Sweets was because he had become too involved in the FBI conspiracy, but in real life, Daley was ready to leave. He was preparing to take a leap in his own career and transition into directing and writing. Today, Daley is a successful comedy writer (he wrote "Horrible Bosses," "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone," and more).
Emily Bett Rickards
Left: Arrow
Reason: She Wanted to Move On
Estimated Salary Loss: $40,000 per episode*
Emily Bett Rickards approached the producers of "Arrow" to say she desired to leave the show, but the producers chose to wait until her contract expired before giving her an ending.
Rickards was reflective about playing the character of Felicity Smoak on the CW show, recognizing it had been a sizable portion of her career to date. Rickards even confessed that she felt bad about leaving, as people had “fallen in love” with the character, making it difficult to “say goodbye”. Despite being a bit sentimental about the role, Rickards was content to leave after seven seasons.
Andrew Lincoln
Left: The Walking Dead
Reason: To Spend More Time with His Family
Estimated Salary Loss: $1 million per episode*
Andrew Lincoln played Rick Grimes on "The Walking Dead". Surprisingly, he is actually British and a big family man. When he has time away from the show, he is in England with his loved ones. Also, a dedicated performer, when he was filming "The Walking Dead," he was apart from his family for about half a year, as he had to return to Georgia to film.
A man of priorities, Lincoln decided that he didn’t like being away from his wife and kids so much, so he asked to be written off the show. Lincoln left in season nine. He later announced that he would reprise the role of Rick Grimes for three TV movies.
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Left: Lost
Reason: Family Issues
Estimated Salary Loss: $30,000 per episode*
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje played Eko on Lost. Akinnuoye-Agbaje had signed to be on the show for four seasons but he quickly changed his mind after just one season. He requested to be let off the island after his parents tragically passed away and he wanted to move back to his native London. The producers, of course, agreed.
Akinnuoye-Agbaje was later offered a guest role on the show’s finale, but he turned it down, perhaps from the memories of losing his parents during his time on the show. The actor was hardly “lost” after the series though, and has had no shortage of roles. He went on to star in "Suicide Squad" and "Thor: The Dark World" just to name a few.