The Walking Dead‘s breakout star, Norman Reedus, has been in the Hollywood scene since the ’90s, but his name is now synonymous with the AMC hit series. In fact, his character’s popularity earned him his own spin-off show, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, which he tells us he was in the middle of filming when writer-director Jeff Nichols first offered to send the script for The Bikeriders his way. Reedus took one look at the cast — Tom Hardy, Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, Mike Faist, and more — and said, “You have a lot of good-looking guys in this movie. Can I go in the other direction?”

Nichols, who wrote The Bikeriders after inspiration struck from photographer Danny Lyon‘s book, was more than happy to let Reedus take control of his character, Funny Sonny. Reedus is a well-known biker, so a film about a Chicago biker club called the Vandals in 1960s America just feels right for the actor. One thing he didn’t want to do, however, was bring along his now-iconic Daryl Dixon look. In fact, Reedus surprised his cast mates on his first day of filming with his new appearance.

During this interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, Reedus talks about why he was so excited to join Nichol’s film and subvert his physical expectations onscreen. He talks about the first time he sat down with the filmmaker, their shared love for Lyon’s work, and what it was like working with vintage motorcycles on set. Reedus also shares an update for Daryl Dixon Season 2 and discusses what it was like filming Ballerina, the John Wick spin-off feature.

The Bikeriders

Follows the rise of a midwestern motorcycle club as it evolves over the course of a decade – from a gathering place for local outsiders into a more sinister gang, threatening the original group’s way of life.

NORMAN REEDUS: Wow. Maybe Six Ways to Sunday. In that movie, Debbie Harry played my mom. That’s kind of where I started, with that movie. I punch Isaac Hayes in the nose. That was fun. Just to be able to hang out with him is fun. That’s where I sort of started. I was like a little kid in this thing, and I had split personalities, and one was terrified and the other one just wanted to fight you. That’s kind of me in a nutshell.

Norman Reedus Didn’t Recognize Jeff Nicols When He Was Offered ‘The Bikeriders’

“Why didn’t you tell me you were Jeff Nichols who directed Mud?”

I know that you love motorcycles. So with this movie and you hearing the script and who’s involved, you must have been, like, salivating. I’m just curious, how much did you pay to be in the movie?

REEDUS: [Laughs] It started while I was at Cannes. I was working in Paris on [The Walking Dead] Daryl Dixon, and I sat next to Jeff Nichols at a dinner. We were talking for, like, an hour and having fun, and he goes, “Hey, I’m directing this movie about Danny Lyon’s book, The Bikeriders.” And I went, “Wait, are you talking about the photography book?” And he goes, “You know about the photography book?” I go, “I have a couple of prints at my house. I have a signed book from Danny. I’m big into photography. Of course, I know.” And then I go, “Wait, who are you?” And he goes, “I’m Jeff Nichols.” I was like, “Wait, did you direct Mud?” And he goes, “Yeah.” I’m like, “Why didn’t you tell me you were Jeff Nichols who directed Mud? Mud is one of my favorite movies.” Then he said, “Well, I have this script. I’ll send it to you.” Then I read it, and I said, “Man, you have a lot of good-looking guys in this movie. Can I try something? Can I go in the other direction?” And he goes, “Yeah, go for it.” Then, I’d fly from Paris back and forth to Ohio and shoot the movie.

Image via Focus Features

So you were shooting this at the same time?

REEDUS: Yeah.

Oh, I don’t think people realize what that is. Like the amount of hours and what it means.

REEDUS: It’s a long flight. So, I kept going back and forth, plus I was shooting Darryl Dixon. I didn’t want to look like Daryl Dixon in this movie, so I kind of took on this whole thing. I’d show up in Ohio, and I’d go to Starbucks and stores with these teeth in and try to see if people could understand me. That kind of started that way.

How Norman Reedus Created the Look of Funny Sonny

Image via Focus Features

That’s so funny because I wanted to ask you. Obviously, you have a look that a lot of people recognize. I mean, you’re famous. What is it like with that makeup and those teeth and basically being anonymous?

REEDUS: The crazy part was the cast hadn’t seen me like that yet. The first time they saw me was me riding that motorcycle down the hill and coming up to the bench and meeting them. I’m sitting up there, and it has a suicide shift that I can’t grab a hold of the top of because it’s a rubber duck in bronze and I’m gonna break it, so I have to thread it with my two little fingers and try to find the gear in a 56 pan head. Then right before the first AD tells me to go down, the makeup lady’s right here, and I was like, “Can I borrow your glasses?” I put on these pink glasses, and they go, “Go!” And I’m like, “Wait, are these prescription?” And she goes, “Yeah.” And I was like, “Okay,” and I just went down not being able to see people, and there were, like, 200 people in the field. Then I pull up, and I meet them for the first time, and I talk, and they’re looking at me like, “What’s happening right now,” [laughs] which works for the movie. But that’s how that happened.

Image via New Regency

That’s amazing.

REEDUS: I was terrified. I was like, “This is either gonna work or not,” you know what I mean?

One of the things that people don’t realize is that motorcycles from the ‘60s and ‘70s do not act like the motorcycles of today. Talk a little bit about the differences between vintage bikes like that and what modern motorcycles do.

REEDUS: Well, suicide shifts a bit differently. You don’t switch gears with your left toe, or with some British bikes, your right toe. It’s like a car, so you have to take your hands off of the handlebars and you have to find the gear. Those bikes are really heavy, and they don’t have disc brakes, so you don’t stop on a dime, you roll those to a stop. A lot of them don’t have kickback throttles. What that means is when you’re giving it gas, you have to ungive it gas, otherwise you’ll just keep going. Plus, you have to sort of wipe those bikes with a diaper to keep them running anyway. It’s a 50/50 chance you can kick that thing over, and after 30 minutes of doing this, you’re literally exhausted. Yeah, they’re much different than bikes today.

One of the things that’s really crazy about this movie is you have all these actors on a highway driving around with no helmets on vintage bikes. That’s a real stunt, especially for insurance companies. What is it like watching all that and being a part of stuff like that?

REEDUS: It’s cool. I like it. You can tell when a bike is on a trailer and you’re being pulled. I can, anyway.

I can, too.

REEDUS: I can also tell the difference when I hear a motorcycle if they didn’t use the real sound because sometimes they’ll cut the sound and then they’ll put it in later. You can tell the difference with the sound, as well, which is the thing that bothers bikers. But I don’t know, there’s a feeling of guys on a motorcycle, a bunch of guys and girls on bikes. I don’t know. I like to ride in a pack, and I like to ride solo. I like them both.

‘Ballerina’ Is “High-Octane and Visually Stunning”

“I know Keanu [Reeves], and my hat’s off to him.”

Photo by Jefferson Chacon

I’m really looking forward to Ballerina, which is the John Wick spin-off, and I know you’re a part of it. What can you tease about your role and being a part of the film?

REEDUS: It was painful. [Laughs] I just got back from Budapest where we added more fight scenes to it. So, I went from Japan to Budapest, back to Japan basically. It’s high-octane. It’s a cool story, it’s well-acted, visually stunning, but it’s just like bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. I know Keanu, and my hat’s off to him because it’s a very physical, full-on, I-need-a-bottle-of-Advil-all-day-long type of job. But it’s fun. It’s super fun. The choreography is tight, tight, tight. In Daryl Dixon, it’s a loose fight. It’s a sloppy fight. There are no sloppy fights in that.

So you get in on one of those highly choreographed fights, or maybe more?

REEDUS: Oh, a ton of it.

‘The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon’ Season 2 Finale Will Be the Best TWD TV Ever

“It’s mind-blowing.”

Custom Image by Jefferson Chacon 

I am a fan of watching you play Darryl Dixon. I know Season 2 is getting ready to come out. What can you tease? Is it a show that you think could go for a lot more years?

REEDUS: I think it’s got some time left in it. I want that character to end correctly. It started correctly and I put too much work into it to be a drone shot waving goodbye. You know what I mean? I want him to get his justice. It still has a huge fan base. I get mobbed all the time because of that show. In France, when the posters went up, it was bananas. We’re about to start Season 3, but I will say the finale of Season 2 is the best one-hour Walking Dead anything ever. I’ve said it in press before. I stick to it. It’s mind-blowing.

The Bikeriders hits theaters in the US on June 21.