Norman Reedus Wanted To Change One Walking Dead Storyline
Norman Reedus wished that the Alpha story in The Walking Dead would have lasted longer.
With a series and universe as big as The Walking Dead, you’re bound to have actors wish that certain things would have been cut, added, or changed. With AMC’s mega-hit finally coming to an end last weekend, series star and fan favorite actor, Norman Reedus, who played Daryl Dixon, revealed that had he been given the choice, he would’ve liked to have seen more take shape with “the Alpha story.” During an interview with Comic Book, the Boondock Saints actor said that while the character “was a bad guy,” he enjoyed working alongside Samantha Morton, who was cast in the role.
Alpha came into The Walking Dead story during the mid-season premiere of the show’s ninth season and quickly marked herself as a powerful main antagonist. She was the head of a crew of survivors who called themselves the Whisperers and would don skin belonging to the walkers to hide their humanity. Norman Reedus says that he wished production would have stuck with Alpha’s story a little longer because he “liked her whole Axl Rose vibe,” and that Morton was “really fun to work with,” adding that he and the others were able to “learn a lot watching Samantha work.”
Norman Reedus’ casting on The Walking Dead was a sort of kismet as the actor walked into an audition for the role of Merle, but instead was written into the series as Daryl Dixon – a character who had not appeared in the comic books. Michael Rooker would ultimately bag the role of Merle with Reedus appearing as the character’s brother. While the creative team hadn’t planned for Daryl to stick around for very long after Rooker departed the series following its third season, Reedus lobbied for Daryl to have a bigger storyline and the rest is history.
Since then, Norman Reedus’ face has been one of the most recognizable coming from the series and he would see his character step out of the darkness and move towards the light, with Daryl redeeming himself from his bigoted background. And while it’s been years since they made their decision to write Daryl a bigger story arc, we’re thinking production is pretty darn giddy with their choice as the character was given a spin-off, marking the sixth such production to spawn from the now-wrapped series.
In The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, the titular character will find himself across the pond and living in France. While much about the series is being kept under wraps, we do know that Clémence Poésy of Harry Potter fame will be joining Norman Reedus, also in a leading role. Poésy’s character, Isabelle, is a member of a religious group who will join Daryl on his quest around Europe.
Along with his own small-screen show, Norman Reedus will also soon appear on the silver screen in Jeff Nichols’ upcoming drama, The Bikeriders. With the actor throned on a seat he’s the most comfortable on – a motorcycle – he’ll star in the feature about a Midwestern motorcycle club in the 1960s. Along with Reedus, the feature will also star Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon, Boyd Holbrook, and Mike Faist.
