Norman Reedus Discusses His Role On 'The Walking Dead,' Finding Beauty In The Grotesque, And How He Once Considered Giving Up Acting [PHOTO]

Actor Norman Reedus, known for his role as Daryl Dixon on "The Walking Dead," recently told GQ that he once considered quitting the acting scene altogether. This month, Reedus is on the cover of GQ's first-ever Age issue, and in it he discusses the trials and tribulations he came across before he encountered the TV character that would give him the most talked-about role of his career.

Reedus is now 45 years old, but not many people recognized him when he arrived during the third episode of "The Walking Dead." Before coming onto the show, not many of Reedus' movies had found much of an audience, and he was close to giving up his life as an actor. He stated, "I was definitely coming a little down on it, but I don't know if I was going to give it up. But I wasn't enjoying [acting] as much, to be honest. I had been in a few films where I thought we were going in this direction and then, after the editing and the music and it's put together, it was sort of going in a different direction I didn't feel so connected to," conveying some of his past troubles.

However, he definitely said "no" to acting a role in Jennifer Love Hewitt's "Heartbreaker" in 2001. According to US Weekly, Reedus commented, "When that came around at the time, my agents at the time said, 'They like you for this part, and it's a Jennifer Love Hewitt movie.' And I'm like, 'Well, what do I do?' And they're like, 'You're her boyfriend,' and I go, 'Well, do I rape her? Do I kill her? What do I do?' And they go, 'You're her sweet boyfriend.' And I was like, 'No! Absolutely not!' But yeah, I just assumed I had to rape and kill her."

Reedus has acknowledged that he has always been drawn to the darker side of film. In his interview with GQ, Reedus stated, "Even with photography and artwork, I've really liked having grotesque things and finding beauty in them. I've always been a fan of horror films and I like aggressive music and aggressive people - they all kind of were interesting to me. I mean I really don't see myself ever being, or wanting to be, in some sort of light romantic comedy about nothing."

Thankfully, his role on the Walking Dead has more than satisfied his expectations and desires. He stated, "I really matured a lot in my mind and became a happier person in this job, because I really like this job, and I like the people I work with, and I like the environment that I work in. And you know, the cuts on my forehead, and the bruises and the black eyes, it doesn't matter; it's awesome. I think that mentality has matured me a lot in the past couple years, you know? I care more about what I'm doing, too."

But what about the gory zombie-killing scenes? Reedus admitted, "A lot of people like it... you'd be surprised."

Tags
Norman Reedus
The Walking Dead
GQ
Age Issue
daryl dixon
interview
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