My Ten
“We wanted to reinvent the show,” the actor said of his spinoff, “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon.” Filming in Madrid gave him time to explore the Prado.
When Daryl Dixon was introduced in the third episode of “The Walking Dead” in 2010, few viewers could have predicted this half-feral-looking character would end up leading the series. Or that Daryl, played by Norman Reedus, would headline a spinoff set in France.
“We wanted to reinvent the show,” Reedus, 55, said in a video interview from Paris.
“We just didn’t want to do the same storytelling as in Georgia,” he continued, referring to the location for most of the original series, “and we didn’t want to make an American tourist version of France. So we got French writers. We fought to have French as much as English.”
Season 2 of “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon” premieres Sept. 29 on AMC, but the new franchise is so successful that Reedus (who also appeared this year in the film “The Bikeriders” and has a second career as a photographer) is already working on the next installment in Spain.
He talked about his connection with rock, art and food, as well as his 5-year-old daughter’s influence on his reading. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
1
‘Wild God’ by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Nick Cave and Warren Ellis’s album “Carnage” was my go-to for the entire French filming portion of the first two seasons, and in Spain it’s this album. It just sings, full of life and stories and beautiful thundering bliss. I don’t know anyone that doesn’t love this band. Not one person.
2
‘Nina Simone’s Gum’ by Warren Ellis
I met Warren in Paris and we immediately hit it off. When he told me of this book, I immediately got it. I find it interesting to learn of the things that inspire the people that inspire me. He had noticed Nina Simone take out her gum before a show and stick it under the piano. As soon as the show was over, he bolted toward the piano and ripped the gum out. He had a gold cast made of it. He was wearing it as a necklace.
3
Eggs Benedict at Coffee Parisien
My family and I are spending more time in Paris these days, and to have a good breakfast spot that serves up some taste of home is nice. And the staff are so cool. I think they know I stole a coffee cup, and they kind of looked the other way.
4
Julia Donaldson’s ‘Gruffalo’ Books
This has become the nightly story-time reading for me and my beautiful daughter, Nova. The whole series is great and it allows me to put on my Gruffalo voice, which I’m guessing is what he sounds like. I told her that I mentioned this book, and she asked why I didn’t mention “Creepy Crayon!,” which is another book that we love.
5
Yohji Yamamoto Pants
I walked in his Paris show and luckily didn’t fall. He walked up to me, put his hands in my hair, made it super messy and went, “You’re so sexy.” Then he pushed me out into the runway. I was terrified. I kind of got introduced to his pants at the show and I was like, “These are the most comfortable, flowy pants ever.” My suitcase has two types of pants: his and Dickies.
6
Prado Museum
I’m an executive producer on the show, so I have to do things with casting and locations and script revisions. My friend Ian Astbury, who sings in the Cult, was like, “Just stop working today and go to the Prado.” I put on my headphones and walked around in a glorious daze staring at the Goyas and my all-time favorite, Hieronymus Bosch. Just magic.
7
Cafe Gitane
It’s a spot I go to a lot. Luc Lévy, who owns the place, is a good friend and maybe the coolest person in New York. There’s all this history on that street. I’d ride my BMX bike through SoHo, back in the day, and I’d run over there and see people just sitting out front and catch up.
8
Erik Foss
Erik and I go way back and I have a lot of his art. I’ve seen it get better and better and cooler and cooler. It has this childlike quality but is also specific and so thought-out. I stare at what I have on the walls, and it puts me in the best mood.
9
Chateau Marmont
I used to live in L.A. when I was in my 20s, so I have a group of artist friends that live there, and I only see them at the Chateau Marmont. It always feels like home even if some rager is going on next door.
10
Hammam
I like to just sit in there for as long as I can take it. It’s like riding a motorcycle and putting on your helmet: You just kind of disappear. I like that.
