Walking Dead star traces the past, present and future of the character who changed his life

In the spin-off’s second season, Norman Reedus’s character searches for someone to finally end the zombie apocalypse. Photo: AMC

In television, a powerful performance has a gravitational pull. Take Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon in The Walking Dead, for example. Daryl wasn’t a character in the source material. In many ways, he seemed built to be killed off after a few episodes. But by sheer force of will, Daryl became the show’s most popular character – and the beating heart of the show. Now, nearly 15 years after the show’s debut, Reedus is the anchor of the entire sprawling franchise.

“I think I’ve put more effort into this part of my life than I have with anything else, to be honest,” Reedus tells The National. “Which is funny, because acting was never first on my list of things I wanted to do.”

While the original series ended in 2022, Reedus is now headlining the show’s most popular spin-off – The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, the second season of which is now streaming on Starzplay. In it, Reedus’s complicated antihero has travelled from the US to Europe, meeting a chosen one who may have the power to end the zombie apocalypse once and for all.

There’s a reason Reedus comes off so naturally as the laconic and folksy Daryl Dixon. In many ways, he’s a tortured version of himself, a humble guy who lives far from the bright lights of Hollywood – letting few people into his world but staying fiercely loyal to the ones he does. It’s a life that makes sense for someone who never wanted to be an actor.

“Before I was an actor, I used to do art shows as a painter,” he adds. “I’ve made seven sculptures – rock, metal and wood. I had my own gallery in New York. This acting thing was second.”

So what changed? It wasn’t just the material, but the people he was working with. Difficult times build strong bonds, and the cast of The Walking Dead, year after year, were together in rural Georgia in the American South for months on end. And as they came to rely on themselves, Reedus became a true leader, and the only indispensable character.

“I really enjoyed it,” Reedus says. “And I didn’t know that I would until I started doing it. I take this part of my life a lot more seriously now, and this show helped me do that. I started to see the value of the time and effort of acting during this job. I’ve made lifelong friends. To say it’s been life-changing is an understatement.”

For Daryl Dixon, which has received strong feedback from fans and critics alike, Reedus has approached the show with intention, having become the hardworking leader he never knew he could be.

“Somebody asked me, why do you want to do a spin-off? And for me, I put so much effort into this character and so much work,” he says. “I want it to feel like it’s coming home. I want to bookend it in a way. I want to recapture that feeling that we had when it was it was the very best of the best. I need it to go full circle, you know what I mean?”

Part of that drive was born in the fact that he was never supposed to reach this point. After all, he wasn’t a part of the source material, so he’s not bound to anyone’s expectations. This character is his own, and he can chart a path of his choosing.

“I can’t just leave it because the comic book ended. I just can’t let go. I’m not in the comic book, so I can do whatever I want, and what I want is to come full circle,” says Reedus.

Season two reunited Reedus with his co-star from the original series, Melissa McBride, who plays Carol Peletier. Bringing her along for Daryl’s journey was always the plan, Reedus says, and one they hope to continue into season three.

He adds: “We have a very special dynamic. People say we’re the heart and the soul, and I think it’s earned. And from here, we just want to keep reinventing. Our plan from here is: let’s stay ahead of the curve as much as possible.”

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season two is now streaming on Starzplay