Happy Birthday Daryl Dixon Actor Norman Reedus! 5 Facts About AMC's 'The Walking Dead' Season 5 Star You Might Not Know
Actor Norman Reedus turned 46 years old today, Jan. 6, 2015, and to celebrate we thought we'd share 5 fun facts about the TV star with you! While we know Reedus for his portrayal of fan-favorite character Daryl Dixon on AMC's The Walking Dead, we recently found out some more information about the actor that might surprise you! After all, who doesn't like finding out more details about celebrities? As you wait for the season 5 midseason comeback premiere episode of the popular zombie drama, check out our list below to find out more about Reedus!
You can see when The Walking Dead and other TV shows return to the small screen right here!
Want to learn more about Norman Reedus? Check out some fun and interesting facts we've compiled in a short list right here!
Though we love him as Daryl Dixon, Reedus auditioned for the role of Merle Dixon, which was portrayed by Michael Rooker. The younger brother of Daryl was created specifically for Reedus after his audition. The comic book creator Robert Kirkman is very happy with the series original character. Back in 2012, he said he feels "absolutely blessed Reedus has honored the show with his presence, and the way he has come in and taken over that role and defined Daryl Dixon. A lot of Norman's portrayal of the character in the first season inspired all the writers to do what we did with him in the second season. We love writing him and end up doing cool stuff with him."
Outside of his acting career, Reedus found plenty of work as a model. His modeling resume includes such companies as Prada, Alessandro Dell'Acqua, Durban, Levi's, Lexus, and Morgenthal Fredrics.
Reedus is pretty much one of the biggest TV stars these days, but he used to make also act in music videos! In 1995, he starred in the music video for Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees." Check out the video below and pay attention at the 2:43, 3:05, and 4:19 marks on the player to catch a glimpse of the actor:
He also appeared in the music videos for Bjork's "Violently Happy," the Goo Goo Dolls' "Flat Top," Ugly Kid Joe's "Cats in the Cradle," and R.E.M.'s "Strange Currencies."
Norman has a son named Mingus Lucien Reedus (born Oct. 13, 1999) with super model Helena Christiensen. The two were in a long-term relationship from 1998 to 2003, but remained close friends after they split in order to keep raising their son together. They never married and have joint custody of Mingus.
In fact, Reedus recently shared a touching story about his son when The Walking Dead was taking off.
"I picked up my son [12] from school the other day," he said in 2012. "He had this big grin on his face, and I asked him, 'What are you smiling about?' He said some of the bigger kids at school had asked him, 'Is your dad Daryl Dixon?'"
In 2005, about 5 years before we all fell in love with Daryl Dixon, Norman was in a car accident in Berlin. As a result, the actor required surgery around one of his eyes. He's basically a cyborg now because he now has a titanium eye socket and four metal screws in his nose. That's pretty cool, right? You can read more about his incident here.
We hope that this list was fun and informative for you, and maybe it helped you celebrate Norman Reedus' 46th birthday in a way, too! Please let us know what you think of these facts in the comments section below, and feel free to add to our list as well!
Happy Birthday, Norman!