'The Walking Dead' Carl Grimes actor Chandler Riggs has a secret cameo in the series finale: 'I'm really happy I got to be there for that'

• Carl Grimes actor Chandler Riggs has a secret cameo in "The Walking Dead" finale.
• The character was killed off in season eight after getting bitten by a walker.

After eleven seasons and 177 episodes, AMC's "The Walking Dead" has finally come to an end. The survivors have come a long way since the original outbreak, but the series came to a close after the heroes clashed with the huge community called the Commonwealth.

The dramatic ending sees Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus), Maggie Greene (Lauren Cohan), and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) finally stop Pamela Milton (Laila Robins) from killing the Commonwealth citizens. But one of the emotional final scenes at the Hilltop colony features a secret cameo from Chandler Riggs, who played Carl Grimes until his tragic death in season eight, episode nine.

No, the show doesn't resurrect Grimes, but Riggs wanted to visit the cast and crew as filming came to an end.

Director and executive producer Greg Nicotero told Entertainment Weekly that it was his idea to get Riggs involved while he was visiting the set for the day.

Nicotero said: "That was our last day of shooting and Chandler wanted to come visit. And I looked at him and I went, 'Hey, you. Take that, go stand in the back of that shot.' It wasn't planned."

Riggs also spoke to EW about his experience on the day, explaining that the crew disguised him using a hat and put him in the background of Hilltop.

The actor said: "It was for one of their wide shots, and they were like, 'Let's get you in there. Here!' I was just in this shirt and jeans that I came down there in. They grabbed a hat from wardrobe. It was like Father Gabriel's hat!"

Riggs added: "And they gave me a hoe and said, 'Be a part of the background for one of the last shots.' And they just tossed me back there, and I just did some hoeing in the ground in the background. It was a lot of fun."

The star pointed out that it was the "first time" he'd been back since he left the show in season eight, but said it was "awesome" to be there for the end.

Riggs added: "When they cut on the last shot, they blasted confetti, and everyone was cheering, and it was a really, really cool moment, and I'm really happy I got to be there for that."

Although fans might've missed Chandler's surprise cameo in "The Walking Dead" finale, Norman Reedus said he was trying to point the audience to where the Carl Grimes actor was during the scene.

He said: "They're trying to hide him in the scene, and I kept trying to move my head like I'm looking at him to sort of draw the audience's attention to, 'Hey, there's Chandler over there!' Which I don't think anybody really wanted me to do, but I thought it was funny so I kept trying to do it."