‘The Walking Dead’ star Norman Reedus seeks refuge from zombies, zealous fans in New York City

As the massively popular 'The Walking Dead' prepares to start its fourth season, actor Norman Reedus, who plays Daryl Dixon, returns home to New York and trades in fleeing from zombies for fleeing from fans.

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Somewhere among the hordes shuffling through the streets of Manhattan right now is the most popular zombie killer on television.

Actor Norman Reedus, known to millions of fans of “The Walking Dead” as the crossbow-wielding, motorcycle-riding Daryl Dixon, has lived in New York for 17 years. And as soon as there’s a break in shooting of the popular AMC postapocalyptic drama that returns for its fourth season premiere Sunday night, he washes off the fake blood and heads home for a cup ofreal coffee.

Bad brew aside, on set the zombies are the least of his problems.

“Near Atlanta, where we shoot, it’s 120 degrees with the humidity,” he told the Daily News. “It’s probably the best weight-loss program in the world, being on the show. It gets very physical. I’ve had stitches across my forehead, I’ve had numerous knee injuries. I’ve gotten attacked by a swarm of bees the other day.In its fourth seasons, Reedus says the show now has the meatiest storylines he’s ever seen.

“You kind of get used to seeing zombies smoking cigarettes and eating Twizzlers between takes,” says the 44-year-old Reedus, who became a cult hero among guys with 1999’s “The Boondock Saints” and with women for a high-profile Prada modeling gig. “But when they yell, ‘Action!’ they go right at you.”

JULIA XANTHOS/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

The role of Daryl is not in the original comic book series on which the show is based, but Reedus draws the most fan mail among the cast — including some very odd gifts.
“They wait by the gates to our studio in Georgia,” says Reedus. “I’ll drive by on my motorcycle and they’ll just tail me down the back roads. I’m pretty good on the bike, so I can lose them.”

One woman mailed him a breast implant that he uses as a cradle for his cell phone. At a convention, another female fan tried to hand him a bag of oily squirrel meat, a nod to his character’s backwoods hunting skills.
When Reedus returns home, he finds sometimes he can relax — and stay in character.

Last year, for instance, he took his son Mingus (whose mom is model Helena Christensen), now 13, and some of his young friends out for a paintball war. Joining them was U2 guitarist The Edge. The facility manager, a huge fan, loaned the actor his personal rapid-fire “Boondock Saints” paintball gun.

“I had an unfair advantage,” Reedus says, laughing. “There were kids running for their lives, I left a few of them crying in the dirt. I just went Rambo on all of those little kids.”

Source: nydailynews.com