Jeffrey Dean Morgan Remembers Late Costar Bill Paxton: 'Loved Him with a Passion'

Jeffrey Dean Morgan paid tribute to Bill Paxton four years after the actor died of a stroke in 2017

Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Bill Paxton speak onstage during the 'Texas Rising' panel at the A&E Networks portion of the 2015 Winter Television Critics Association press tour at the Langham Hotel on January 9, 2015 in Pasadena, California.
Photo: Frederick M. Brown/Getty

Jeffrey Dean Morgan is remembering his late costar Bill Paxton with an emotional Twitter tribute.

The Walking Dead star, 55, shared a photo of himself and Paxton to Twitter on Saturday showing the two actors smiling side-by-side under umbrellas. Both Morgan and Paxton are in full costume, with Paxton dressed in a pair of suspenders and high boots with a hat perched on his knee.

"This popped up today on my phone memories. Goddamn, I Miss him. So much," Morgan wrote alongside the photo. "Never known anyone quite like Bill. Never will."

The actor added that he "loved" Paxton "with a passion," noting, "everyone lucky enough to know him did."

The photo appears to have been taken on the set of the Texas Rising miniseries, which first premiered in 2015 on the History Channel. Morgan and Paxton costarred in the historical drama, which took place after the Battle of the Alamo and followed the creation of the Texas Rangers during the Texas Revolution.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan Pays Tribute to Late Bill Paxton
Jeffrey Dean Morgan/Twitter

Paxton starred as General Sam Houston, while Morgan played Captain Deaf Smith.

When news of Paxton's death first broke in 2017, Morgan paid tribute to his costar on Twitter, writing, "Bill Paxton was simply one of the greatest people ever. To know him was to love him. I loved him."

Paxton, who was known for his roles in shows like Big Love and Hatfields & McCoys and in movies like Twister and Apollo 13, died of a stroke on Feb. 25, 2017. A family representative said at the time that Paxton died "due to complications from surgery."

The late actor's family later filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the doctor who operated on him and the hospital where his heart surgery was performed, accusing them of "negligent diagnosis, management, and treatment." Paxton, who was 61 at the time, died 11 days after his surgery, which took place on Feb. 14.

Morgan's post comes after Amanda Seyfried also paid tribute to Paxton with her own throwback photo on Friday. Seyfried, 35, who played Paxton's onscreen daughter in Big Love, posted a photo of the two of them to her Instagram.

"Bill and me," she wrote in the caption. "Sorting through the thousands of photos I've packed away over the years has been mostly fun but every once in a while I find one that brings me to my knees."

"I got so lucky to know this man and feel his bright, warm light so often while playing his daughter on Big Love," Seyfried added. "He was wonderful and so deeply loved and I miss him."

Paxton played Mormon family patriarch Bill Hendrickson on the series, which ran for five seasons on HBO before coming to an end in 2011. The series also starred Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloë Sevigny, and Ginnifer Goodwin, who played the three wives of Paxton's character.

Seyfried previously told PEOPLE Paxton's death was "a terrible loss" in a statement shared shortly after the actor's passing.

"He was an amazing and supportive father-figure to me in my early career," she said. "Incredibly inspired and full of life at every turn, he made you feel like everything was possible."

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