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The Walking Dead director Greg Nicotero made a cameo appearance as a walker in final episode

Greg Nicotero at a Walking Dead red carpet event
Greg Nicotero features as a walker in Episode 24 of The Walking Dead Season 11. Pic credit: ©ImageCollect.com/Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency

AMC dropped its very last episode ever of The Walking Dead on Sunday night.

The honor of directing the final episode fell to special effects master Greg Nicotero, and not for the first time; he ended up in the show too.

The network not only wound up the entire show but also included a bonus scene setting up the Rick and Michonne spinoff. They also potentially teased how Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) winds up in France after he heads off in search of Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln).

The final installment also saw the conclusion of the Commonwealth storyline as well as a happy ending for most of the characters after a relatively low body count.

In a show about zombies, it was expected plenty of people would die, but it turned out it was the undead who suffered the most casualties.

However, AMC did bring back one person from the dead when Chandler Riggs made a cameo appearance. Previously, he had portrayed Carl Grimes in the TV show but succumbed to a walker bite in Season 8.

But it turns out there was another sneaky cameo appearance.

Greg Nicotero as seen behind the scenes on the Season 11 finale of AMC's The Walking Dead
Greg Nicotero as seen behind the scenes on the Season 11 finale of The Walking Dead. Pic credit: AMC/Jace Downs

Greg Nicotero appears in final episode

Over the years, Greg Nicotero has directed various episodes of The Walking Dead and was called upon to be in charge of the final installment, titled Rest In Peace.

In addition to this role in the franchise, he is also a special effects and make-up artist. Once again, he has used this skill on the set of The Walking Dead and two of its spinoffs, Fear the Walking Dead and The Walking Dead: World Beyond.

In addition to this, he has used his skills in many other TV shows and movies, ranging from Watchmen and Mare of Easttown to Hemlock Grove and many other horror movies.

As pointed out by Den of Geek, when it came to the final episode of The Walking Dead, Nicotero also decided he would use his make-up on himself as he dressed up as a walker that appears in Episode 24.

Dressed in a striped, long-sleeve top and jeans, Nicotero lumbers out from the treeline as Daryl Dixon rides past at the end of the episode. This is after he says goodbye to Carol (Melissa McBride) and various other friends of his and leaves the community in search of Rick.

It is also right before the bonus scene featuring Rick and Michonne (Danai Gurira).

Greg Nicotero features as a walker in Episode 24 of AMC's The Walking Dead Season 11
Greg Nicotero features as a walker in Episode 24 of The Walking Dead Season 11. Pic credit: AMC/Jace Downs

This is not his first cameo in The Walking Dead

While many may think this is Nicotero’s first appearance as a walker in The Walking Dead, it most certainly is not.

The director has featured in eight other episodes, according to IMDb.

His first appearance was in Episode 3 of the first season. Here, he played a walker eating a deer.

He quickly followed that up in Episode 4 when he portrayed the walker who attacked Amy (Emma Bell).

Since then, he has played various other walkers, including walkers that appeared outside the Sanctuary and inside Woodbury.

Melissa McBride, Greg Nicotero, and Norman Reedus, shown on set for Episode 24 of AMC's The Walking Dead Season 11
Melissa McBride, Greg Nicotero, and Norman Reedus, shown on set for Episode 24 of The Walking Dead Season 11. Pic credit: AMC/Jace Downs

All seasons of The Walking Dead are now available on AMC and AMC+.

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