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Norman Reedus is more than a TV actor. He is synonymous with Daryl Dixon from “The Walking Dead.” The chances are that you have undoubtedly seen Norman Reedus, somewhere or the other. And yet, he remains an enigma. Let’s see what we can learn about him:
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1. One head and many hats: Norman Reedus is a painter, photographer, artist. He has acted in TV shows, music videos and is also a model.
2. An Accidental Acting Career: Norman followed a girl to Los Angeles and was dumped immediately. One day his friend invited him to a movie party. There he got drunk and started shouting while wearing enormous sunglasses. He was offered a role in a play, which he accepted. On the very first night, a lady who was an agent hip-pocketed him. He got a few bookings and has never looked back since then.
3. An Insecure Actor: Norman Reedus says that he is insecure when he is acting. But when he started his career, he thought everybody hated him. As a result, he glared at everyone as he thought they hated him and his work. The scowl became his signature look, and the rest is history!
4. Daryl Dixon: In the original script, Daryl was a racist and crass. But Norman Reedus thought that the character should be subtle and layered. He knew that the character had to be nuanced to have the audience rooting for them.
5. Character Credit: Robert Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead comics, gives Norman Reedus all the credit for how his character has shaped up and is an integral part of the show. Rumors are that Daryl is soon going to be a part of the comics also.
6. Cat love: Norman Reedus loves cats. When his son asked him for a black cat, he went around looking for one in the streets and the rescue shelters. It was an angry animal. He travels with Reedus and is his constant companion.
7. More Cat Love: He also painted and sold paintings of cats to pay rent and survive when he lived in Sitges. Mostly, women who felt sorry for him bought the paintings. (Imagine the fortune they would fetch on eBay today!)
8. Beth, Emily Kinney s death: The cast and crew of The Walking dead are a very closely-knit group. So the end of any character on screen is a highly emotional time offscreen. After filming Beth’s death scene, Reedus broke down. He sat down on an apple crate and bawled for an hour while Beth went around consoling everyone.
9. Daryl’s crossbow: Norman Reedus takes Daryl’s crossbow to New York at the end of every season. As a result, he has a collection of crossbows back home at the end of every season. And the prop department is missing one!
10. Pranking Pals: Reedus loves pranking his co-star Andrew Lincoln(Rick Grimes on the show). The two share a close relationship and spend a lot of time pranking each other. One of Reedus’ favorite pranks is running up a high tab on Lincoln’s hotel room.
11. A Mean One!: At a publicity event in Japan, Reedus taught Andrew a phrase in Japanese. It was “where is the toilet” instead of “Thank you for having us in your beautiful country.” Reedus broke out laughing and told Andrew the truth (on air)! And, of course, Reedus heard his share of choice words from Andrew for that!
12. Back at you: Andrew decided to get back at Reedus for the prank in Japan. He sought the help of Nick Santonastasso, a superfan of The Walking Dead, who loves zombie pranks. Reedus was playing Candy Crush while waiting for an interview. In full zombie gear, Nick leaped out at Reedus from under a cart and scared him silly. Andrew was delighted, and Reedus was shocked.
13. Preparing for Daryl: Chris Chadwick asked Reedus some questions at the Comicon 2015 in San Diego. One of the questions was how he prepared for the role of Daryl. He answered that he listened to Motorheads and played CandyCrush. And please do note that his favourite emojis are the panda bear, red balloon, and the banana!
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