Norman Reedus’ Birthday Is Here — The Man Behind Daryl Dixon And ‘Death Stranding’ Turns 48


Today is Norman Reedus’ birthday, as the actor behind The Walking Dead’s Daryl Dixon turns 48 on January 6. His phenomenal presence has been felt over the past two decades, and time has been kind.

Starting 20 years ago, Reedus made his cinematic debut with Floating, a film about a man carrying the emotional and financial weight of his own father. His character, Van, doesn’t get the emotional support in return and ends up going on a crime spree with newfound best friend Doug (Chad Lowe), which ends in tragedy.

Of course, Norman’s debut film would be mirrored only a few years later with his breakout role as Murphy MacManus in The Boondock Saints. In that one, in case you haven’t seen it before, a pair of Irish vigilantes who happen to be brothers take on a Boston crime lord while being tracked by a genius FBI agent. The two manage to leave a wake of bodies, bullets, and F-bombs as they mete out justice in the cult classic.

The Boondock Saints was much like the original Star Wars, in that it wasn’t well received at first, but grew a fan base as word of mouth took hold. Unlike George Lucas’ space saga, the second film suffered from similar results, almost ensuring that a Boondock Saints 3 would probably never happen. Norman Reedus is up for it, though, and has confirmed it will happen, even if he is a little busy these days.

Norman Reedus confirmed ‘Boondock Saints 3’ is happening. [Image by Franchise Pictures]

The role of Murphy MacManus might also have been an inspiration for Reedus’ role in 2013’s Iron Man: Rise of Technovore, in which he voiced The Punisher.

The same year in which Norman Reedus made his debut as MacManus, he co-starred in the Wesley Snipes mega-hit sequel Blade II. He played Scud, a kid who Blade adopted after losing Whistler (Kris Kristofferson) to the vampires. Predating his role as an all-around hero in The Walking Dead, Scud was a quirky inventor with a secret he revealed when the titular hero arrived to rescue Whistler.

Of course, the role Norman Reedus is most famous for on his birthday this year is as Daryl Dixon, a man who hunts his own meals, fixes cars, fights off zombies with a crossbow, and makes motorcycles look even cooler. Even though the role never existed in the comics, Reedus had been trying for the part of Merle Dixon. The show’s creators gave the role to Michael Rooker, but they liked Reedus so much that they made him the younger brother.

Now, Walking Dead fans like Daryl so much that when it was rumored he died at the end of Season 6, many threatened to boycott the show.

Daryl Dixon of ‘The Walking Dead’ is one of Reedus’ most beloved characters. [Image by AMC]

Norman’s own origins began in Hollywood, Florida, but he moved to Venice, California, and took up a job working retail for Harley-Davidson, says Comic Book. This could explain why he looks so natural riding a motorcycle. It was after being offered a chance to be in a play that he was discovered by Guillermo del Toro, a relationship that has aided Reedus to this day. Mimic was simply his first role under the acclaimed director, and now Norman is breaking into video game acting.

Silent Hills a reboot to Konami’s horror hit, was slated to bring Reedus, del Toro, and Hideo Kojima together, but it was short-lived. Kojima had left Konami in 2015 and the game never made it past being a playable demo, which isn’t even available from PSN anymore.

‘Death Stranding’ will be Reedus’ breakout role in video games. [Image by Kojima Productions]

That didn’t stop the three from collaborating once more. After a mysterious trailer appeared at E3 in 2016, the appearance of Norman Reedus in all of his digital nakedness made Death Stranding an instant fan favorite. A further trailer revealed Guillermo del Toro, while not naked, but digitally placed in the same world.

Norman doesn’t appear to be stopping anytime soon, and he’s doing his own reality TV series, titled Ride with Norman Reedus, for AMC.

Happy 48th Birthday, Norman Reedus, and keep being you.

[Featured Image by Helga Esteb/Shutterstock.com]

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