Norman Reedus, whom you might know as Daryl from The Walking Dead, is promoting his new show Ride, which premiered on AMC this Sunday. It’s a reality travelogue show where he visits friends and gets into adventures on his motorcycle. I’m a motorcycle rider who started somewhat late in life. The premiere made me want to ride the Pacific Coast Highway, but I’m not sure I’ll continue to watch it. Reedus seems a little stiff and his personality is not drawing me in. The real stars are the people Reedus meets along the way, like the guy who gives tours of Nitt Witt Ridge, the former home of a garbage collector in Cambria, CA who made his residence out of trash, the workers at electric motorcycle company Zero, and the wonderful people from the Motorcycles and Misfits podcast. (I might tune in for Fleet Week!) Reedus’s storyline feels a little forced but the motorcycle enthusiasts are fun to see. One of the workers at Zero even had a tattoo from the Walking Dead comics.
Speaking of the comics, the showrunners have not followed the comics in every case and many of us are still wondering who died at the wrong end of Negan’s bat, Lucille, at the end of the finale this season. It came across as a cheap way to keep fans hanging and many people were upset about it. Well Reedus has an answer to that, and his wording is quite similar to that used by showrunner Greg Nicotero and the actor playing Negan, Jeffrey Dean Morgan. He tells us to “trust” the producers. It’s almost as if WD stars were given talking points.
Cherry-picked, AMC-approved teases and tidbits fed to online news outlets aren’t enough for the fans who run sites like The Spoiling Dead, a community dedicated in part to crowdsourcing grainy footage of actors on set and deducing what the images mean about which characters live and die.
They’re a formidable force: the site’s 350,000-strong fan base has accurately predicted the deaths of several main characters over the last few seasons, using intel gathered from intrepid, cellphone-wielding fans who convene near set during filming.
And at least one star of the show is openly sick of it.
“When there’s 200 people who’ve all driven [to set] from other parts of the country just to sit there and get a picture of whoever’s there and wreck it for everyone, you’re like, what—what are you guys doing?” says Norman Reedus, who plays fan favorite Daryl Dixon.“Why? Why? Why do you want to do that? Why do you want to spoil stuff? I like the enthusiasm and stuff but, you know, if I knew what you were gonna get for Christmas…I seriously doubt I’d put it on the internet. I wouldn’t want to wreck that for you.”
“I don’t know, it’s just the world we live in now, where everybody’s got a cell phone and everyone’s on a something-gram or a something-book and everybody wants to know everything right now, right now,” he sighs. “I don’t want to sit down with you at a movie and have the guy next to me tell me the end of the movie as it’s starting, you know what I mean? Everything’s all instant gratification…”
Reedus can only disclose that filming is well underway. And, despite the critical lambasting season six’s cliffhanger finale endured, Reedus insists that the story unfolding will “pay off” in spades at the start of season seven.
“All I can say is it’s worth the wait,” he says. “You just have to trust us. The show’s large and a lot of people like it and it’s done really well. You just gotta trust us that we’re telling a story and you’ll get the answers that you want.”
Most of the fans, including those of us who gossip for a living, aren’t seeking out spoilers. They have more to worry about from celebrity news sites like TMZ. There was a recent car accident in Georgia during which Reedus and another WD actor, presumed to be dead, came to someone’s aid. I’m not going to link it but you may know what I’m referring to. None of this would be happening though if showrunners hadn’t pulled such a cheap stunt. All they had to do was reveal who died and they could have avoided all of this mess. It’s not like people aren’t going to tune in next season.
Photos credit: WENN, FameFlynet and Getty
I don’t plan on watching TWD next season. I know I’m one household and won’t make a difference – but I have no interest in a show that doesn’t pay out. I’m watching to be entertained. The cliffhanger wasn’t entertaining, IMO. It would have had more of an impact to see who it was and end that way.
I was so stressed out by the build up and the ending scene I had to change the channel. I know I am weird but I couldn’t handle watching Glen or anyone else get their brains beat out.
we don’t either! didn’t watch last season. its the same thing drama zombies more drama pointless. this guy needs a bath! how women can like this guys is beyond me
His hair always looks unwashed.
I used to think he was so hot back in the day but now he just looks gross, unwashed and seedy.
Correct, he looks like a walking midlife crisis
also Definitely off TWD train for good
I’m actually fine with cliffhangers. TWD is certainly not the first show to do it, and they won’t be the last.
I, for one, enjoy speculating with friends and family. It’s part of the fun, especially when I’m right!
Does this guy ever go out not looking like he’s been living under a bridge for three months? Gross.
The next time someone screams at me about Americans showering excessively, I’m going to show them a picture of this guy.
Ha, that is perfect!!
Not to take away from this post and Norman’s very valid points but CB is a motorcycle rider! That to me is more interesting than anything else I’ve read in this article.
I went on a bike ride with my cousin’s dad once when I was about ten or eleven. So fun. Don’t know why I’ve never repeated the experience.
I watched the first episode on amc’s website. it’s a cute little travel show, but norman isn’t the most dynamic voiceover/narrator. not everyone is great at reading out loud (myself included).
I agree about the spoiling dead, I don’t know why you’d purposely seek out spoilers for yourself. why not just wait and enjoy it as it unfolds? kind of boring to watch if you already know everything that is going to happen.
He always looks like he smells like whiskey and cigarettes
Did they really think people wouldn’t try to figure out who was killed? We’d all just sit tight and take the cheap shot? He makes a fair point about instant gratification and “spoiling” things because it’s just a tv show… enjoy it… but low blows are often met with retaliatory low blows. Half of me feels bad because everyone involved with the show is working so hard to put together a story for us and to have people “ruin” it would be upsetting. But they kind of set themselves up for it and I’m surprised they’re throwing the law down on groups like The Spoiling Dead.
I like his observation about cellphones. Per his current appearance, it’s hard to believe he has done modeling in the past.
He was in a car accident, my dear. He was in the hospital for some time. He stopped modelling after that.
I was referring to his “unkempt” appearance.
No cell phone here…and I’m on Nothing-Gram.
Hmm. I love the character of Daryl but whenever I see/read Norman Reedus in the press I just want to say “stop talking, your personality reminds me of actual wood.
Also, his inability to finish a sentence with words and whole “boyfriend-I-met-at-the-unemployment-office” look reminds me of something I would have ‘dated’ in my 20’s.
**shudders**
My husband doesn’t have a gram or a book of anything. He is the only person I know who doesn’t.
He looks so unwashed and gross…and yet I find him absolutely hot and would let him do, well…pretty much anything to me…anywhere….anytime. And then…I’m embarrassed to say I would beg him for more.
My taste is questionable.
I don’t have a gram or book or any social network 🙂 I don’t mind waiting but lost interest in walking dead last season:/
We can’t get enough of Norman, his new show or walking dead. I like to see all u whiner do any of the things this actor has done. In the zombie apocalypse he would be one of people I would want watching my back, the bad boy get down and do what ever it takes, his look is very sexy!! As for his new show it shows you what it’s like to tour on a motorcycle and all the interesting thing I will never experience. Not much of a motorcycle enthusiast, but love his point of view and the journey he takes us on. Keep on riding !!!!!! Having a Cell phone is just a tool of communication helping us stay in touch . It’s just a distraction or a reason to just sit down and take a break. Love seeing our favorites on Instagram.