Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride on Their 'Daryl Dixon' Reunion and Moving the Story to Spain

The AMC series The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol has reunited fan favorite characters Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) and Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) in France, just when they needed each other most. Carol has been fighting old demons from her past while Daryl has been struggling to figure out what’s next and whether to even return home. As enemies become unexpected but much-needed allies in the fight for survival, true friendship becomes invaluable.

While Season 2 is coming to a close, fans already know that they’ll be getting a third season, as Daryl and Carol move on to Spain. They might be moving ever closer to finally getting back to the States and going home, but they’ll have to survive new enemies, new Walkers, and whatever their new location has to offer, before they can get there.

During this interview with Collider, co-stars Reedus and McBride talked about how Carol elevates things in Season 2, figuring out their mission as the characters evolve, the internal therapy going on with Daryl, how different the fight scenes are in this series, earning the Daryl and Carol reunion, favorite Season 2 moments, the gift of playing these characters as long as they have, and how different it feels to be shooting Season 3 in Spain.

Having Carol and Melissa McBride in France for Season 2 Has Really Elevated 'The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon'

Collider: This show feels so different from the flagship show, and this season feels so different from last season. Norman, you’ve been heavily involved with this series. What is something you really wanted to do in Season 2 that you couldn’t have done in Season 1?

NORMAN REEDUS: Well, having Carol there. Having Melissa [McBride] show up and do her thing really elevates the show in a lot of different ways. The first season was a lot of Daryl showing up and trying to figure out where he is, and then trying to figure out how he’s gonna get back, and then running into people and not knowing if he’s gonna have a fight or if they’re gonna get along. And then, he accepts this mission and he changes throughout the mission. Now, that he’s changed and he’s all wrapped up, to have Carol come in, he was at his lowest point, and then he sees her. The one person he needs to see, happens to be there at his very lowest when all the lights are off. That’s like having Melissa show up. It was perfect. Now, we get to tell this story of them together, trying to figure it all out. We talked a long time ago about making a show together. The first season was great, but it was amping up to get to where we are now. Now, we’re getting to do the story that we used to talk about all the time at the craft service table.

Melissa, what was it like for you to take this character that you know so well and put her back in the path of this dynamic, but to have her in this unfamiliar location with new characters and unknown dangers? What is the most exciting aspect of that for you, having played her for as long as you have?

MELISSA McBRIDE: I was really excited about that journey away from everything. Something that I really love about shows, movies, books, and characters is, who are they without everything? Who are they without everything around them? Who are they when they’re by themselves? I love that we get to see that in Daryl and Carol, searching for something, but finding themselves, in a way. That’s something that I’m really excited for with the character. It’s a new journey for her, and what she reveals about herself to herself, that can maybe be witnessed by Daryl, brings me to something that I love about the two of them. They can evolve, and yet they’re a familiar touchstone for one another. Wherever that evolution takes them, or they’re growing inside themselves, or they’re realizing things about themselves, they still have one another. They will have one another. For Carol, that’s very important. He knows her. He knew her back then. He knows her now. He knows everything she’s been through. She’s got to find that. But yet, when she does, she’s already brought more because of the journey that she’s been through to find him. It’s the same with him. That’s what I love about these two.

Daryl Dixon Is Experiencing a Lot of Internal Therapy As He Tries to Be a Better Person in 'The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon'

Norman, Daryl feels like someone who has just always forged ahead and tried to not really let things fully affect him. But it seems like with the time he spent in France, people and things and the experience he’s had there seem to have really affected him. Why do you think things seem to be weighing on him more, at this point in his life?

REEDUS: There’s a line he says to Isabelle, where he’s like, “I don’t know if this is the place for me.” This is when he’s starting to get comfortable and it hits him, and he’s like, “I wonder if the people that I’m thinking about are still thinking about me.” He didn’t wanna get involved with these people. They said, “You do this, you drop off this kid, and you can get home.” And he’s like, “Fine, I’ll take the contract,” but then it’s starting to weigh on them. There’s a feeling that he’s starting to have, being in a new place, that he’s been fighting his whole life. With the death of his brother, he could finally let go of that thing on his shoulder and slowly become this person he wants to be. He can act like it and he can try to be it, but here’s another fight. You've gotta run from this, and you’ve gotta fight for this.

It’s just weighing him down. It’s just beating him into the ground, over and over again. And then, there’s a spark of something new here. Maybe if he can help this kid, it can help his kid inside. And maybe if he can accomplish this for this lady, then he can feel good about himself. I think there’s a lot of internal therapy that’s going on with him, as he’s trying to figure out who he is and going, “Am I making the right decisions?” With the reunion, all those decisions are crashing and burning around him, and he can do nothing about it. He’s evolving and he’s changing and he’s starting to make decisions by thinking, “What would Herschel do right now? What would Rick do right now?” Instead of where he was in the beginning, where he was like, “I’m just gonna punch this guy in the face,” he’s slowly starting to become better. He’s trying to improve. There’s a whole bunch of stuff happening.

The fight scenes felt a lot different this season. They felt longer, at least watching them, and they felt like they would have been exhausting. Did they feel different?

REEDUS: Yeah. There’s a different shooting style here, different storytelling that we’re doing here, and scenes breathe longer. You exhale. It’s not just, “Next, next, next, next, next, next.” Everything has meaning and purpose, and it’s driving you from this point to that point, as opposed to just killing things. You’re trying to get there, but you’ve gotta hack through the weeds to get there. The dialogue is different. The shooting style is different. The fight choreography is longer and extended. You feel it more. It all hurts.

Melissa, what was that like for you? Did you like doing these fight scenes compared to some of the previous ones?

McBRIDE: I’ve been watching back some of these episodes, and I’m watching Norman in the scenes that I’m not in, and he’s running around that castle location. Around every corner, somebody comes, and he’s knocking them out. And then, he goes down the stairs and he’s knocking those people out. And it was all going for over a minute, with him jumping off of walls. I’m excited for the stunt work in this. There are some scenes that were just super cool, with the effects and stunts. It’s a very creative show with very awesome people to work with, pulling this all together.

Does anything surprise you about these characters, at this point? Do you always find new things because the characters are always growing and changing and evolving, especially when you work with new actors who are playing new characters? Do you feel like you know these characters so well that you would know how they would react in any situation?

McBRIDE: That’s what I love about the new location and the new characters. They’re in a place where they don’t know anything. They don’t speak the language. They’re bouncing off of people, and they’ve never known people like these people. The relationship that [Daryl] had forged with Isabelle, what does that mean to Carol? She walked in and found him there and it’s like, “When were you coming back? What does this all mean?” They are catalysts for change and catalysts for evolution within these characters, and they come back and bounce off of one another. They still can grow together, we hope.

REEDUS: I think it’s a gift to be able to play a character this long. Just like people do in real life, hopefully they evolve and their decisions change and their perception of what this is grows. I feel like it’s really interesting. It’s a crazy social experiment, on a mass scale. I feel like it’s a real gift. I wanna see these two characters get a happy ending. I want something good for them to happen. I want them to find peace.

McBRIDE: The idea of them coming across different people that stir different parts of their soul, for the first time in their lives, every person they come across, helps them discover more about themselves and each other and the world they’re in and people. I love that.

REEDUS: It’s turning into a novel. It’s awesome.

Everything About Season 3 of 'The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon' Will Feel Different in Spain

In that sense, how is it feeling to film Season 3 and move things from France to Spain? What sort of vibe and sense are you getting from the new location?

REEDUS: Everything is different [in Spain]. There are different artists making the show here. We have a different cast. Everything looks different and feels different, and it’s a different story. It’s new energy. You take these two characters traveling around Europe, and all of Europe is not the same, just like the United States isn’t. New Yorkers are way different from people in California and everyone in between. It’s the same here [in Spain]. It’s new energy.

McBRIDE: And the location itself is like a character. There’s so much to play with, visually and story wise.

REEDUS: We changed it. We had a big talk with the writers and everybody, and we all wanted it to be such a moment. We wanted it to be a Braveheart moment. We wanted it to feel earned. These two characters have earned this relationship over time, and through all these different trials and tribulations. It’s gotten to a point that’s completely legitimate and completely earned, and we wanted that moment to be earned. I think we nailed it. You had to take the characters at their lowest, and then when they run into each other, it’s the one person that Daryl needed to see at his very lowest moment. Everything is burning around him. He’s lost everything. He’s failed miserably. And then, he sees the one person that he needed to see, in an impossible situation. It had to be great.

What is each of your favorite moment in Season 2?

McBRIDE: I have several. Apart from the reunion scene, which may be one, the scene with Carol and Genet together, when she first confronts her in her office, is one of my favorites. It’s just between these two women having a similar perspective on things, talking about forgiveness. That’s definitely one of my favorites.

REEDUS: I think my favorite moments come when we’re not filming. There was a time when we first started the show back in Georgia, and everybody was just in it. Every actor wanted every actor to be great, and it felt good, and we were just in our bubble in the woods, making it. You could tell it was working and we were onto something really good. And then, the show evolves, and characters die and they go away, and you’re always chasing that moment, off camera, where you’re looking around and everybody knows it’s good. Everyone’s like, “Yeah, we’ve got a winner here.” We had that in Europe. We had it first season. We really had it second season. We have it right now. Everyone is happy at the end of the day because we’re doing it and it’s working. It’s a rhythm that you get in. When it doesn’t work, you know it doesn’t work. And when it works, it’s an invisible group hug, all the time.