The Walking Dead Season 8 introduced a major twist that revealed Austin Amelio’s Dwight as a double agent. From being an enemy to Rick Grimes and his group of Alexandrians, the villain has now offered to become Grimes inside man helping him with his ultimate goal of bringing an end to Negan and Saviours.

The alliance between Rick and Dwight should not be considered as friendship. For now, it’s mere exchange of favors. In the past, Amelio’s character has been one of the easily-hated villains considering the fact that he shot the most-loved characters of the series, Norman Reedus’ Daryl Dixon. Dwight’s actions followed the actor off screen and led to some challenges in his real life.

In a recent interview with TV Guide, Amelio revealed how his rivalry with Daryl led to cyberbullying by fans, who threatened to burn his house down.

“When I shot Daryl, people were like ‘I’m gonna burn your house down,'” Amelio said. “So I’ve had that sort of stuff.” “I’m Austin, I’m nice; Dwight’s a d—,” he adds.

Dwight first appeared in The Walking Dead Season 6 episode titled “Always Accountable.” He shot Daryl in the shoulder in Season 6 episode titled “East.” Later, it was revealed that Dwight did not mean to kill Daryl and planned his attack strategically to bring him back.

Despite the backlash, Amelio has great things to say about The Walking Dead fan base. “The fans with the show are unbelievable,” he says. “They’re so cool and nice and if I do see people in the street, it’s like ‘hey, I love your work.’”

“I like that they’re passionate about it,” he says. “It makes the show what it is.”

Amelio is not the only actor to face fan backlash. Previously, actor Josh McDermitt, who plays the role of Eugene Porter, was forced to quit social media. Seth Gilliam (Gabriel Stokes) was threatened by young boys at his home and actress Alanna Masterson (Tara) was cyberbullied.