Steven Yeun Calls Walking Dead Premiere 'Beautifully Terrible'

Even if Glenn makes it out of the Walking Dead premiere alive, the experience of shooting the episode left his portrayer wounded.

In an interview conducted mere hours before tonight’s opener (AMC, 9/8c), Steven Yeunacknowledged to our sister site Variety that “it’s always tough to see people exit the show,” adding, “As an actor you come to terms that things might be ending for somebody. You go over all the things you experienced together and what a great time it was for everyone.

“So [in] that way, it’s beautifully terrible,” he added. “It’s bittersweet.”

RELATEDThe Walking Dead Season 7 Premiere Poll: Who Do You Hope Negan Kills?">The Walking Dead Season 7 Premiere Poll: Who Do You Hope Negan Kills?

Similarly, tonight’s special extended Talking Dead aftershow — featuring the entireWalking Dead cast — will be filled with “joy” and “sadness,” Yeun predicted. “It’s going to be a lot of things.”

Viewers themselves may be too emotionally raw to tune in. As showrunner Scott Gimple previously teased to TVLine, he and his fellow producers “spared no drop of awfulness, no iota of misery, no scintilla of pain” in depicting Negan’s rampage.

RELATEDWalking Dead Renewed for Season 8">Walking Dead Renewed for Season 8

That said, after the blood and tears have dried, Gimple promised Season 7 will feature moments of “lightness… humor… warmth…. It isn’t all misery.”

Launch Gallery: The Walking Dead's 10 Most Memorable Moments

Get more from TVLine: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter