Ryan Hurst Fans Reach out After ‘Sons of Anarchy’ Star’s Hospitalization Reveal

Ryan Hurst fans took to Twitter to send well wishes to The Walking Dead and Sons of Anarchy star after he revealed he was hospitalized over the summer for heat exhaustion while filming in the Georgia heat for the zombie apocalypse show. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Hurst, who plays Beta on Season 10 of TWD, explained just how hot he gets beneath his black leather trench coat.

“Oh my God. I landed in the hospital once this year from heat exhaustion,” Hurst said. “I’m in a leather trench coat and two layers under that in Georgia in the summer. It’s no joke, man.”

Upon hearing that, Hurst’s fans took to social media to worry about the 43-year-old.

Hurst, who was beloved on Sons of Anarchy as Harry “Opie” Winston, says he loves wearing the intense “Darth Vader” mask that has come to define Beta on TWD.

“[Greg] Nicotero [the show’s special effects expert] is a master teacher when it comes to zombie stuff, and it’s so comfortable,” he explained. “Even though you’re in Atlanta in 110-degree weather, I love wearing that mask. I really, really do.”

He also opened up about Beta’s mysterious backstory. “Yeah, it’s been a blast. One of the most fun parts that I’ve had on this show is the secretive nature of where this guy came from,” he said. “It’s something that I very early on brought to [showrunner Angela Kang], that I had this idea of his backstory and also, how they met, and we collaborated a bunch on making this back story a reality. So, I’m just super happy with the way that it all worked out because Angela and I’ve been talking about this since the beginning of Season 9, when I first signed on.”

He continued, “I had some different ideas that were sort of contradictory to some other stuff that was established in the comic books, so I think we’re on the right path. There’s still a lot of secrets behind who Beta was that we’ll investigate more and more. But you know, I like to dangle a carrot.”

Hurt also opened up to Insider about Beta’s mysterious past after Sunday’s episode, which pulled back the mask on both him and Alpha — however, Beta’s face was still kept a secret, a decision made by Hurst himself. When asked why Beta continues to hide his face, Hurst said, “I can’t give you the answer. All that I noticed is I’m doing my job if you’re asking those questions. I remember in Season 9 Angela [Kang] was like, ‘We would like to show your face.’ And I was like, ‘Are you kidding?’ I was like, ‘No.’”

“After you see under Darth Vader‘s mask [in Star Wars], you don’t need to see him much more after that,” Hurst said. “I was like, ‘Let’s just pose, let’s just let the audience keep wondering up until the very last minute.’ There are answers to all of these questions about why he wears it and what’s underneath there. Is he protecting himself? Is he protecting the people that are still alive out there? How does that make any sense? These are all the questions that I wanted the audience to be asking.”

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.

Photo credit: Dave Kotinsky / Contributor / Getty