Norman Reedus refused to do Daryl Dixon show without The Walking Dead producer

The latest spinoff in The Walking Dead universe is Daryl Dixon, which chronicles the adventures of the titular hero as he washes up ashore in France. So far, the show has received great reviews from both critics and casual viewers, and AMC has renewed it for another season.

But back in its early days, the spinoff got off to a rocky start. Notably, Norman Reedus was hesitant to move forward with the show unless long-time The Walking Dead executive producer and director Greg Nicotero was involved. Nicotero has collaborated with Reedus for over a decade at this point, directing 37 episodes of The Walking Dead and working on dozens of others.

For the Daryl Dixon show, however, Nicotero was happy to take a step back and let someone else take the reins. Newcomer David Zabel was brought in as showrunner. But when Reedus heard that Nicotero was not involved at all, he began ardently calling for him to return to action. “Norman kept saying, ‘You can’t do the show without Greg! You guys have got to make a deal. He’s got to be here!’” Nicotero told SFX Magazine. This led to Nictoero becoming an executive producer on the spinoff.

"Then David called me and said, ‘How would you feel about not directing this season?’ Honestly, I felt that it was best for the show that we have someone else come in. Then I could help establish the visual palette, but have someone else realise it. In retrospect, I am really glad that I didn’t [direct] because it allowed me to roll up my sleeves with the directors and really hone in on exactly what we needed to do."

Original Walking Dead producer returns for Daryl Dixon

As an executive producer on Daryl Dixon, it was Nicotero’s job to ensure the spinoff meshed with the original Walking Dead show while still standing out. “Stepping into this role as an EP, my job when I landed in Paris was to make sure that there was some continuity in the two worlds. But not enough that it would make the show feel like we’ve seen it before.”

Nicotero was glad that he wasn’t in the director’s chair again. That way, someone new could bring their vision to the series. “I felt really passionate, along with Norman, that we wanted the show to have a different feel,” he said. “My style of directing is kind of the style of ‘The Walking Dead,’ because I directed almost 40 episodes. I thought it was important that the show have a different visual flavour to it. So I was very glad because I didn’t need to be behind the camera.”

Norman Reedus is also an executive producer. “Norman really rolled up his sleeves as a producer,” Nicotero said. “He had very, very specific input on everything, including that he loved David Zabel. Norman wanted to collaborate with him, and he and I really felt that it was important to have a showrunner who was outside of ‘The Walking Dead’ universe.”

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon continues Sundays on AMC.

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h/t The Direct