The Walking Dead star Tom Payne opened up to The Hollywood Reporter about how his character's sexuality was glossed over—and how his (spoilers to come!) death at the end of Season 9 came to be.

Payne, whose character, Paul "Jesus" Monroe, became a series regular in Season 6 and stuck around all the way through the end of the series' ninth season, told the magazine that he's "disappointed" with how Jesus' sexuality was handled. In the comics of the same name, which inspired the small screen adaptation, Jesus is something of an iconic gay character.

But on the show, his sexuality was mentioned once, in an exchange with lead character Maggie Greene (Lauren Cohan) in Season 7.

Of playing a queer character, Payne said it was "an amazing responsibility," and he was "happy to take it on." But he wishes Jesus' sexuality was more explicitly addressed. In fact, the actor says he still runs into Walking Dead fans who don't realize his character is queer:

The right people picked up on it; they did recognize it. But you can find people who still don't realize Jesus was gay. I think they could have been a bit more up front about that. While you've lost Jesus, you still have Aaron and Tara (Alanna Masterson), and now Magna (Nadia Hilker) and Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura), so there's still representation on the show. But it's a shame. He was such a badass character. They could have made more of it.

The actor also addressed Jesus' shocking death in the midseason finale last Sunday. Since so many characters are killed off in The Walking Dead, the writers have a tradition for impending victims: death dinners with the cast. Payne says that ultimately, he took "the call" about Jesus' death in the script with grace, and even though "there were times I was frustrated with the show, I was happy we were telling this great story."

He added that Jesus was a great character, and it's always hard to say goodbye to a good role. But, Payne also revealed he isn't opposed to reprising his role down the line. Could a resurrection be in the works? Only time will tell.