The Walking Dead series had a great run during its eleven seasons. Throughout the storyline many villainous characters were introduced but none appeared so menacing as 6’6″ Beta, second in command of the Whisperers.

Actor Ryan Hurst is best known for his award-winning portrayal of Opie Winston on the FX series Sons of Anarchy. He has also appeared in many other memorable roles including Remember the Titans, Taken, We Were Soldiers, Saving Private Ryan, and more.

When AMC announced Hurst for the role of Beta, comic fans were excited to see the towering actor portray the character, who in the comics is seven feet tall. With his height and skin mask, this menacing look was perfect to be the right hand man to Samantha Morton’s Alpha.

Who was Beta before the outbreak?

In Robert Kirkman’s Walking Dead comic story Beta was a famous basketball player turned actor before the outbreak. As an actor, he appeared in some movies and car commercials. After the outbreak Beta began wearing a skin mask over his face at all times to avoid being recognized.

Viewers of the series were anxious to see if Beta’s celebrity story would be featured. And, it was. Instead of the basketball player and actor, Beta in the series was the musician known as Half Moon. AMC really leaned into this story by creating an album Half Moon Live In Concert that was released on Nov. 6, 2022.

The album contained two songs, “I Went To The Well” and “The Turtle & The Monkey.” Fun facts about these songs: Cooper Andrews (Jerry) and Dan Fogler (Luke) wrote the first one, and Emily Kinney (Beth) wrote the second. Hurst performed both songs, and one was featured in the series.

Kinney’s song, “The Turtle & The Monkey,” was heard, in an alternate version, during season 10, episode 14, “Look at the Flowers.” Beta played the song to lure the horde of walkers before deciding to take on the role of leader of the Whisperers instead of death.

Earlier in the season, in episode 5, “What It Always Is,” Magna (Nadia Hilker) was seen listening to the album inside the Barrington House at Hilltop. Two other fun Half Moon Easter eggs occurred in two of TWD spinoffs. In Fear the Walking Dead, Daniel (Ruben Blades) possesses Half Moon’s record among his collection, and in World Beyond, the album is seen in Dennis’ (Maximilian Osinski) living quarters.

Next, Hurst will star in Danny Peykoff’s Out Come the Wolves with fellow TWD actress Cassady McClincy Zhang (Lydia). The movie is set during the East Bay punk scene and is based on the album by Rancid that was released in 1995.

Hurst and Fear the Walking Dead actor Michael Greyeyes will star in the new Netflix series The Abandons. The series is expected to release in the second quarter of 2025.