Norman Reedus has opened up about how different it was to film fight scenes for From the World of John Wick: Ballerina compared to The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon.
Speaking with Collider at Brazil's CCXP, the actor shared how Ballerina's fight scenes were way more choreographed than anything he has ever had to do on The Walking Dead. "It’s a different fighting style, totally. The Walking Dead’s very sloppy, this is very choreographed and a lot of people put it together to make it safe and look spectacular," Reedus stated. "I’m pretty good with weapons after all this time, but it’s always a math problem, even on the TV show. Everything’s math. The fighting’s math. You show an arrow, bend out of frame, you come up without the arrow digitally, and you show another arrow. There’s a math there."
Reedus has been playing The Walking Dead character Daryl Dixon since the AMC horror drama series' first season. Widely regarded as one of the show's most popular characters, Reedus was given his own spinoff series following the conclusion of The Walking Dead in 2022. Titled Daryl Dixon, the spinoff premiered on AMC in 2023 and has so far aired two seasons, each comprising six episodes. A third season of Daryl Dixon is currently in production and set to debut in 2025.
Ballerina Is the First John Wick Spinoff Movie
Although The Continental prequel series is the first John Wick spinoff, Ballerina will be the first time the franchise has attempted to make a film not centered around its titular character. Set between the events of John Wick: Chapters 3 and 4, the upcoming spinoff follows Ana de Armas' Eve Macarro, a young female assassin trained in the traditions of the Ruska Roma named Rooney who seeks revenge against the people who killed her family. The character was briefly introduced in 2019's Chapter 3 – Parabellum, played by Unity Phelan. Reedus co-stars in Ballerina as Daniel Pine, who remains shrouded in mystery.
Ballerina also stars Gabriel Byrne, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, and David Castañeda, while Anjelica Huston, Lance Reddick, Ian McShane, and Keanu Reeves reprise their roles from the John Wick movies as the Director, Charon, Winston Scott, and John Wick, respectively. Ballerina will serve as Reddick's final screen role following his death in 2023 at the age of 60. As for Reeves, his return was made possible by setting Ballerina before the events of Chapter 4, which ended with his character's supposed death.
In November 2024, franchise producer Basil Iwanyk opened up about how de Armas was instrumental in convincing Reeves to cameo in Ballerina as John Wick. "[She'd] known Keanu for years and kind of helped to reach out and go, 'Let's do this, come on, it's gonna be fun,'" he explained. "And so she was definitely helpful in getting Keanu excited about the movie. And Keanu's a gigantic fan of Ana, so I think he got really excited about Ballerina once Ana came on board." Reeves and de Armas previously worked together in the 2015 thriller film, Knock Knock.
Directed by Len Wiseman, Ballerina is scheduled to hit theaters on June 6, 2025.
