Gold Derby Norman Reedus Interview Transcript
GD: It would be a spin off.
Norman Reedus: It would be cool, yeah. GD: We just talked to Scott Wilson, also, like an hour ago and he wanted me to tell you “hi.” He was so great on that show. What do you miss about Hershel? Norman Reedus: I miss a lot of things about Hershel and I miss a lot of things about Scott Wilson. He’s such a good person and such a giving actor and such a cool guy in general. There’s nobody on our show like Hershel. You can’t replace a Hershel. He brought a certain experience and comfort in his words and advice. He just has such an air about him, just as a person, and when he inhabits a character that -- you know, I always say in interviews, I want to grow up and be Scott Wilson one day. I think Daryl might have thought the same thing of Hershel. You know, he seemed to -- he’s tough and he means what he says and he’s a good person. So, I think there was a little bit of both similarities there. GD: In our chatbox right now, we have a lot of people wondering about Daryl and Carol and the love interest there. Now, MMB, she was just nominated with a Critic’s Choice TV Award nomination a couple of weeks ago. What’s it like working with Melissa? Norman Reedus: Melissa’s great. I got lucky early on in this show having scenes just with Melissa. I think that the episodes where it was just Daryl and Carol, I think -- you know, with Daryl looking for her daughter and the lengths he went to to try to find her, and the reasons why. With the Cherokee Rose episode, you saw certain reasons why Daryl did what he did. You sort of saw the thought process behind some of his actions and, I think, without those episodes, Daryl might have been pigeonholed as a one-note type of character. Just an angry, aggressive guy. But you started to see different areas of Daryl that opened up, you know, and you saw him grow up in a way that-- I mean, if the zombie apocalypse didn’t happened he was sort of set to become Mini-Merle and I don’t think that’s something that Daryl was really looking forward to, to be honest. And I think, you know, with Merle out of the picture and all these opportunities to sort of find a sense of self-worth through these other people, Melissa was one of those key people that he learned from and he felt comfortable with enough to express certain things that he had inside, that he probably would’ve kept inside if he hadn’t met somebody like her. And, you know, I think abused people, insecure people, sort of gravitate towards other insecure, abused people. I think that there’s a common damaged quality of the two that they recognize in each other. And I think, working with Melissa, she just gets me, Norman, as a person and I got very lucky with having scenes early on with her. She’s kind of a window into her mind. You kind of just have to look at her and feel her and we did that back and forth very well. We have very good chemistry, she and I. GD: And the last we left the characters, everyone you know kinda separated, so Daryl may not even know, at this point in the show, that Carol’s still alive. When Daryl finds out she’s alive, or if he does, what will his reaction be? Norman Reedus: I think out of everyone in the group, she’s definitely one of the top ones that he’ll be the most excited to be reunited with. I mean he’s always protected her, he’s always had a soft spot for her, and he’s always looked after her. I think he recognizes a lot of himself in her, and I think he would do anything to keep her alive and keep her safe. It’s a very close bond between those two. GD: After all the characters were separated last year and you spent a lot of time with Emily Kinney, who plays Beth, and a lot of people started thinking maybe there was a romance between those two characters, but I didn’t see it that way. I saw it as, maybe, the writers putting two complete opposites together and showing that, you know, in an apocalypse like this you don’t pick who your friends are, you can’t choose who you stay with. But some people saw maybe a romance side that I didn’t see. What’s your take on the Daryl and Beth? Norman Reedus: I think I’m more with your train of thought, you know…The thing about Daryl is that people have been trying to “hook him up” with people, left and right, since episode three, you know? So, I don’t want to play him as the type of character that just meets somebody and throws the girl up against a tree and, in the moonlight, has passionate stuff happen. I want to play him like he doesn’t know what that means. I want to play him like -- all the awkward moments between a boy and a girl, or a girl and a girl and a boy and a boy, when they meet is -- if there’s romance involved, they’re awkward at first. Like, it never just goes like this right away.
I think, especially with his background, to play those awkward moments are important. I think that’s almost more interesting than two people doing this.
You know? So, as far as Beth and Daryl -- I didn’t see it like that. I mean, I think that if there were feelings like that [for Beth] it’s because he doesn’t quite understand those feelings and he might say the wrong thing or he might be shy to make a move in either direction. I don’t think he’s like, ‘Hey, Beth. Come here.’
I think he’s more like, 'Hey, I might like you. I — yeah— you know — I don't know. Maybe. I don't know if I'm doing this right or if I'm not doing this right.' But, it was more, you know, the prison was just taken, Daryl was starting to feel comfortable with who he was as one of the group members and one of the group leaders, and I think once that was taken away, it was all back to square one. They were lost in the woods again and -- I spent the first half of that episode just growling. I barely — barely— spoke an audible word. But as the episode progressed, he saw something in her that was sort of like a little candlelight at the end of a dark tunnel. And she was saying there’s, you know, there are good people left in the world and there are, you know, reasons to go on. And don’t give up hope. And I think she was that little glimmer of hope for him. And, I think that’s what he was attracted to. I think if he misconstrued those feelings as a— possibly like a crush, then that’s even better! But I don’t think he went in there like, ‘Hey, me and you.’ I think he was kinda like, 'There's something good in you and I haven't seen anything good in forever.' It’s like — it’s being like lost in the woods for miles and miles and starving and finding an apple tree with an apple on it. You know, it’s like, there’s something good out there and—and maybe that’s you [Beth] and maybe you can show me whatever you know and you can make Daryl have those hopeful feelings too. And I think that some people might have interpreted that as, you know, he thinks you’re cute or he wants to be with you. But it — I think it was deeper than that, to be honest. GD: Back in Season 3 you got to reunite with your TV brother, Merle, played by Michael Rooker. And up until that point, Daryl’s main motivation for continuing on was just to find Merle. So, now, after Michael Rooker was killed off, did you kind of worry that maybe your storyline was complete and that they would have to, maybe, create a new story for you? Norman Reedus: Well, I mean, I think all the characters that killed off on this show are so interesting that they could have their own show. I think all of them could. I think the writers do such a good job with making these interesting, these roles real, and interesting people to follow. The thing with Merle is, you know it was always Merle [then] Daryl...
...everywhere Merle went, Merle led and Daryl followed. And even when he was away, Daryl slowly got to the point where he felt like he was important too, you know? And Carol, you know, leaned down and kissed him on the head and he flinched, like, “don’t hit me.” That was stuff we added to the character on the day and she says, “you’re just as good as everybody else.” I don’t think he thought that before. But with Merle out of the picture, Daryl-- you know, I spent the whole first two or three seasons sort of talking out of the side of my head, like, “Yeah, don’t look at me, don’t look at me. I’m sayin’ stuff.” And that shows a huge chip on your shoulder. It shows that you’re not comfortable with looking someone square in the face and having them look into your eyes. I spoke out of the top of my head all the time. As Merle was away, that slowly went to somebody who would look you directly in the face and speak to you. Whenever Merle came back, I--you know-- Daryl went back into little brother mode. I mean, if we were in a gunfight in Woodbury, and someone says they saw Merle and, in the middle of a gunfight, I’m just gonna go out and talk to him. And Rick was like, “You can’t just walk out there, there’s a gunfight.” And I’m like, “No, it’s my brother. I got this.” But he goes back to this little kid and does whatever his brother says and I think that storyline was important, and I still think that storyline’s not done, to be honest. Even with Merle gone, I don’t think it’s-- I think, you know, Rick has sort of become the brother that Merle wasn’t to Daryl, you know? And there could be trust issues there. There could be trust issues all over the place. And I think Daryl is slowly becoming somebody that he can be proud of and I think that storyline really helped him. GD: You know, unlike almost every other TV show on the air, the cast of The Walking Dead is always changing. You now, older people get killed off and new people are always coming in. And we kinda talked about Hershel earlier, but is there another character from the past that you wish was still on the show? If you could bring them back, who would you bring back? Norman Reedus: Oh, wow. I thought Shane was really good. I really liked that character. I thought Jon did such a good job with that and really owned that part and, you know, he’s kind of the only one that Daryl butted heads with. And he butted heads with him, but Daryl never disagreed. They were always on the same page. They always wanted the same result. Which is something that Rick didn’t at times and, Daryl, he sort of sided with Shane at times. But I think that character was super interesting. I really liked that one. I miss them all, to be honest. GD: How great is it using that crossbow? I mean, it looks so cool, and then also Michonne’s katana. You guys are sort of associated with these weapons. You know? What is it like to use that thing every day. Norman Reedus: The crossbow’s fun, but it’s kind of a math problem, because it’s one of those weapons where you go up in a tree and you pick things off. But when I’m running or they’re running at me, and there’s several things to kill or a lot of things to kill at once, it becomes sort of a math problem, because you can’t shoot a live arrow on set. So you have to show a bolt, put it in, hold it up, drop it out of camera, throw the bolt on the ground, pick it back up, and a digital arrow will fire. So, you kinda have to do that mess. Shoot something, pull a knife, stab this one, pull the arrow out, show the arrow, stab something, show the arrow, put it in the cross bow, drop it out of-- it becomes a big sort of math problem. But, you know, that thing -- it’s really powerful. I mean, it’s -- you could stick it in a brick wall. It’s super, super powerful. So, the whole thing where we pull on it and act like I’m pulling on it, that’s like super TV strength. You can’t really do that in real life. Just a little secret, you need like a whole system to cock that thing. GD: And was it Conan O’Brien that had the video of you training with the crossbow? Norman Reedus: Yeah. GD: That was so funny. If you guys haven’t checked it out, go to Youtube and watch that. It’s this fake training video and I think some people thought it was real. Norman Reedus: He told me that. I saw him again when the whole cast was back on and he told me that people were writing in thinking it was a real thing and I was just completely bonkers. But, no, we made that up on the spot and I was just down for anything. I thought it would be fun, but, yeah, people thought that was real. GD: Do you admire that the Walking Dead writers aren’t afraid of switching up the show’s playbook at any time? First you’re on the run, then you’re on the farm, then you’re in the prison, and who knows what with Season 5. Does it create tension on the set, never knowing where the next story will take you guys? Norman Reedus: I think it creates tension, but the good kind of tension. The thing I like about this show -- one of the things I like -- is that it’s always moving, it’s always adapting and changing itself. I was talking to Andrew yesterday and we were talking about the show and why we, as people, are surviving. Like how is this group surviving? He was mentioning that we were kind of like a virus. We adapt to what’s around us and learn our lessons and we move forward, but we take sort of chances and try to break out, and we adapt to what’s around us. So that’s one of the good things about the show, is that it’s constantly adapting and we as characters are adapting. I mean, you can’t look at anyone -- you can’t look at Steven in Season 1 and think Steven’s the same actor as he was in Season 1; he’s not. None of us are. But it’s interesting to be on this end of it and watch these actors and these directors and these writers make it fresh all the time. And it’s not just with the zombie threat, it’s also with the people threat-- what they’re willing to do, what they’re willing to stand up for, what they’re willing to not stand up for. It’s interesting because it sort of correlates, interesting enough, with our real lives in a lot of ways. It’s very interesting to watch. GD: Do you prefer acting on television or in movies, or is there really no preference? Norman Reedus: I like both and they’re both very similar and they’re both very different. The thing with movies, you have this amount of time to tell a story and create a character and throw a bunch of stuff in there to make this character interesting and so forth. Everybody does it their own way. But with television, I mean this is the first real TV thing I’ve ever done. You have this long window of time to sort of drop these little hints behind you that turn into storylines and so forth. Like Melissa going to kiss me on the head and I flinch. Then there were storylines written that I was an abused child, but there was no talk of that before I did that. So, it’s very much a collaborative effort and you kind of have to be on the same page with the writers and your show runner and the directors and the other actors for a long, extended period of time. I’m doing a movie now in Georgia [Triple Nine] at the same time that I’m filming the TV show, and I’m coming in, I’m “boom, boom, boom,” I’m hitting it hard and then I’m out. You know? But this -- this has become like a lifestyle of mine. Living here in the woods and my eating habits, my sleeping habits, my work habits, my friend habits. Everything that’s involved in Norman’s life is -- a huge portion of that is The Walking Dead. Living out here and doing this and adjusting my life schedule to do this. And it’s great and I absolutely love it. GD: What would you say is the most rewarding part of becoming Daryl Dixon? Norman Reedus: Wow. Having the time to create a character like this. Having the opportunity to work with these producers, and these directors, and these other actors, and the writers and create something that’s so large and so well-liked and it doesn’t feel like a huge, overbearing responsibility, because it’s still really, really fun for me. I’m having a good time doing it. So, it’s one of those jobs that’s -- I guess like any other job -- if you really like your job you like going to work every day. So I’m very much enjoying the whole process. GD: If the apocalypse never happened, what do you think would have happened with Daryl and do you think any of the character’s lives would have entwined without having the zombie apocalypse? Norman Reedus: Wow, that’s interesting. I think he probably would have been running with his brother until somebody got bitten. He probably would have hooked up with the wrong group of people. He probably wouldn’t have felt so good about himself. He’s probably have done worse things than he was probably doing before. He would probably live an outlaw life without the moral consciousness of having to deal with that ever. He would probably just be a wild man at this point. Would they ever -- I mean, maybe Hershel’s farm? Maybe, being down in Southern Georgia they would run into that farm. I don’t know, you know, it’s weird the way that things work out, because if Merle wasn’t locked on the roof when I came back -- Merle and I, I mean, our back story was we were gonna take over that camp. We were gonna rob them. And that’s talked about on the show, but it probably would have gone much differently. The series of events that happen on the show, I think, pretty much defined our future. GD: So, in other words, maybe this was a good thing for Daryl, because it’s bringing the best out of him. Norman Reedus: A lot of people say that. Yeah. I hear that quite a bit. And in a lot of ways, yeah. He can take care of himself, he can protect himself, he can track. He’s pretty self-sufficient, except when it comes to here.
You know what I mean? With dealing with this and with other people. I think he’s-- that’s definitely his weakest point. GD: Final question. Where are you guys right now in terms of filming Season 5? Are we ever gonna find a cure? Norman Reedus: Wow. You know, I don’t know. There’s talk of a cure definitely in our scripts and there’s been episodes that aired where we talked about a cure. We are on episode 4 right now and it’s such a tight ship over here right now. They kind of tell us where we’re gonna shoot right before we shoot it this year. Everything’s on lock down and every time we read something, we all freak out ‘cause it’s kind of mind blowing. We were doing episode 1 and Andrea and I were sitting there next to each other and I was saying, “Man, they’re never gonna air any of this on television.” Like, this is too crazy. And then we’re thinking about it and we’re like, “Yeah, but we’ve said that every year and things get to television.” So, this season is going to be pretty nuts. GD: Wow. Well, we can’t wait to watch it. Thank you so much for talking with us today. Norman Reedus: Oh, it was a pleasure. My pleasure. GD: Awesome. Have a good day. Norman Reedus: Oh cool. Have a good one. Thanks.
