‘The Walking Dead’ Postmortem: Norman Reedus Talks Daryl’s Commitment to Honoring Glenn and His ‘Bizarro’ Relationship With Dwight
Warning: The interview for “The Cell” episode of The Walking Dead contains storyline and character spoilers.
Is there anything sadder than a sobbing Daryl Dixon? Well, OK, yeah, after the Season 7 premiere, we know there is. But it was still tough to see one of The Walking Dead’s most beloved characters locked in a cell being tortured and forced to deal with his guilt and grief over the death of Glenn while away from his other friends. “The Cell” also gave us a nice long peek into just how twisted it is to live under the rule of Negan, and Norman Reedus talked to Yahoo TV about why Daryl will survive Negan’s and Dwight’s attempts to break him, about his bizarro interactions with Dwight, and how people are taken “to their lowest in order to give them a chance to rise from it.”
He also tells us what was really in those dog food sandwiches, the memento from the episode that he added to his collection of TWD “oddities,” and the Walking Dead co-star who’s definitely joining him for Season 2 of Ride With Norman Reedus.
Yahoo TV: Daryl is in one of the most vulnerable places we’ve ever seen him, but he still isn’t broken by Dwight or Negan. Can Daryl be broken?
Norman Reedus: I think he feels like, “whatever,” especially in the beginning of the episode, the first three-quarters of it, he feels like whatever happens to him, he deserves it. He’s just going to take it: Torture him — he can take it. He’s being pushed around the hallways and thrown up against fences and stuff like that. He’s just letting it happen, he’s not even struggling. He’s like, “I deserve to be here.” He’s just going to sit with that. Him not saying “Negan” in the end is as much for Glenn as it is for anybody else. Glenn was this optimistic, good person who was one of his best friends, and if he would have said he’s Negan, and not stand up to who he was, he’d be throwing away that last thread of hope that Glenn stood for. That’s what Glenn was all about. You can beat him up, you can torture him, you can feed him dog food, and he’ll take it, but he can’t give that up because it means too much to him.
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When he tells Dwight he won’t kneel for the same reason that Dwight did kneel, because he’s thinking of someone else, do you think there’s a part of Daryl that also feels like he owes it to try to get back to his family and help them, help them get out of this situation that is going to continue with Negan until they do something about it?
I think he definitely wants out of there, but it’s almost as if he’s watching Dwight go through similar things. Although Dwight took a different path, is more empowered, and he’s a bad guy now, it’s like Dwight doesn’t get why Daryl won’t do it. He’s like, “Just do it, just say you’re Negan, he’s going to torture you. I said the same thing, and look what happened to me.” Daryl’s watching Dwight not get it, and that’s why he says, “I know why you did what you did. You did it for someone else. That’s why I’m not doing it.”
Hopefully that resonates in Dwight’s mind. You can just yell at somebody so long — “Just accept it, just accept it” — and Dwight doesn’t seem to get it. There is sort of a bizarro thing going between Dwight and Daryl. You know what I mean? Daryl’s telling him, “If you don’t understand that this is why I can’t do it, then go ahead, throw me back in the cell, feed me dog food, torture me,” but Glenn means too much to Daryl for Daryl just to give up.
Dwight does understand to a degree what Daryl is going through because he feels responsible for Tina’s death. Did the visit from Sherry, when she was talking to Daryl and she told him, as he predicted, she would be sorry for what she and Dwight did… Did hearing that from her help him?
I don’t think Daryl gave a crap about her. I don’t think it did anything for him whatsoever. Everyone seems trapped under Negan, and everyone seems to be doing things that they wouldn’t do and nobody feels good about it, except a couple of good ol’ boys in the background. I don’t think any of the characters are enjoying the position that they’re in except Negan. Daryl is not going to be the slave that Negan wants. He just won’t. You can beat the crap out of him, he’s not going to do it. He’s just not that kind of a guy.
We see tough survivor Daryl coming through in little moments, like how he’s taking notice of everything. When he’s in the doctor’s office, he’s listening to every bit of conversation, he’s looking around when Dwight walks him by Negan’s apartment. Then he tries to make an escape. There’s still that core of Daryl in there, even though he’s so distraught right now.
Yeah, for sure. He’s definitely trying to pick up as much information as possible, and he’s seeing how complicated it all really is. There’s a pregnancy test — he gets and he sees it all. I don’t think he wants to be friends with anybody. I think there’s only a certain amount of sympathy he can give at this point. He’s definitely well aware of what’s going on around him, and he’s looking at everything as possibly a way to escape or possibly a way to use it to his advantage at some point.
Music played such a big role in this episode. Did you listen to the torture song, “Easy Street,” while you were filming or before you filmed?
I haven’t seen the episode yet, and there was no music playing while we were filming.
Roy Orbison’s “Crying” is used in the scene where Dwight gives Daryl the photo, and that song is kind of beautifully heartbreaking in a happy circumstance, but it really works well in that scene.
Oh, good. No, I haven’t seen the episode, and I don’t even know what music’s in it. We didn’t play any music at all on set, so I don’t even know what music is there.
“Easy Street,” a very chipper song, plays repeatedly. It’s the one that Daryl is supposed to be hearing over and over again. It’s kind of like “Walking on Sunshine,” a super-happy, peppy song. The audience is hearing it so often that you totally get how it’s torture for Daryl.
It’s not the Psychedelic Furs’s “Easy Street”?
No, it’s a song by the Collapsable Hearts Club. It might remind you of “Walking on Sunshine.” It’s just that kind of super-upbeat, happy, repetitive song, which you might like the first time you hear it but which would feel like torture if you’re hearing it on a loop.
I was talking to one of the producers yesterday, and they were talking about finding music for that, and I was, like, “What song are you using?” They were saying it’s really hard to get a song for that scene, and I go, “Why?,” and they go, “Because nobody wants to have their song play over a torture scene.” I didn’t really think of it until she told me.
What exactly is the photo that Dwight gives Daryl? We can guess that it’s something from the premiere, Glenn’s death, but it’s very dark.
Remember last year, when we stormed one of the Savior compounds and there were Polaroids all over the walls, of people’s heads being bashed in, the ones Glenn found? In the premiere, [the Saviors] took pictures. Somebody came with a Polaroid and took pictures of everyone that Negan smashes, so that was Glenn. Yeah, that was Glenn with his head smashed. I actually kept the photo. I have the photo at my house.
Do you still have Andrew Lincoln’s beard in a bag?
I do, at my house. And Hershel’s ponytail.
You’re going to have the best Walking Dead museum one day.
Right? It’s funny though, how many people grab things now, like signs to Terminus and stuff like that. People grab things — “I want this, I want this.” I’m going to stick with oddities.
Maybe it can become a section at your Nic & Norman’s restaurant at some point.
Wouldn’t that be weird though? Like, “Here’s Glenn with his head bashed in, try the Brussels sprouts” … “Here’s Andy’s hair in a Ziploc bag, try the burger.”
Walking Dead fans are committed, your fans in particular. I think they’ll go with it.
They might, actually.
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Speaking of the food, obviously the food in this episode is another big part of it. What were you actually eating during the dog food sandwich scenes?
I don’t know what that was. Some SPAM-type stuff, I think. I don’t know what it was, but it was gross. Those rolls were rock hard. I tried not to swallow that stuff — take a bite and get rid of it. It was disgusting, it looked like dog food, and it tasted like dog food.
The showdown between Negan and Daryl outside… you and Jeffrey Dean Morgan each talked at Walker Stalker Con last weekend about hanging out together. You’ve shared pictures on social media of your road trips together, you’re friends. Does that make it easier or tougher to do those kind of confrontational scenes?
I think it makes it easier. Not because we’re friends, but because we respect each other, and I know when I’m in a scene with Jeffrey, it will be a tight scene, it will be good. We are good friends. I’ve known him a long time. I always know when I’m in a scene with Andy, it’s going to be one of my favorite scenes, because he and I bounce off of each other really well. It’s the same with Jeffrey. We all respect each other, and we all go for it, so that’s great. My favorite scenes are with Andy, and I like working with Jeffrey as much as I do Andy.
Is there a possibility that Jeffrey will join you on the next season of Ride With Norman Reedus?
There is a big possibility, you are correct.
Are you guys filming yet for Season 2, or will you do that during the break?
We do that during the break, so we’ll start that probably [at the] end of January up until about the end of March.
Cool, so maybe for another premiere next summer? It’s a perfect summer show.
Yeah, you’re exactly right, next summer. I’ve had a lot of people come up to me and go, “I’m on a bike now. I got a bike because of your show. I want to go to this spot.” A lot of girls come up to me because we featured a lot of girls that are really badass last season. It’s a nice breath of fresh air from all the seriousness of this job, you know what I mean? This job’s fun too, but this season’s really dark. It’s nice to go out and meet new people and see new things.
What can you preview about Daryl’s story the rest of the season?
It’s a dark season. It’s a complete change of power. You kind of need to break people to their lowest in order to give them a chance to rise from it, so the lower you go, the higher you end up going on the other end. Hopefully there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on AMC.
