Norman Reedus addresses Melissa McBride’s decision to leave their Walking Dead spin-off

Reedus says his longtime co-star deserves a break from zombies after 12 years

By Sam Barsanti  |  May 4, 2022 | 1:17am
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Norman Reedus addresses Melissa McBride’s decision to leave their Walking Dead spin-off
Norman Reedus Photo: Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for ReedPOP

Last week, AMC announced that its Walking Dead spin-off dedicated to fan-favorite characters Daryl and Carol had lost its Carol, with a statement explaining that Melissa McBride—who has played Carol Peletier on the series for over a decade—found it “logistically untenable” to stay attached to the show, presumably because it’s going to be set and filmed in Europe (a huge, life-disrupting move like that is a big ask when you’ve already been doing the job for as long as she has).

We’re saying it seems like an understandable decision on her part, assuming the company line is to be trusted, but a subset of Walking Dead fans jumped to the assumption that McBride refused to work with Norman Reedus—the “Daryl” and “Daryl and Carol”—again. This prompted Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who plays foul-mouthed designated hitter Negan on the series, to chime in and defend “Norm” against “TOXIC” fans, saying McBride just needed “a break” and that they should “respect that.”

Now, Reedus himself has shared his take, and it’s a predictably gracious response from a guy who apparently now gets to lead his own solo Walking Dead spin-off. Speaking with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show, Reedus said that McBride has gone through a “grueling schedule” on The Walking Dead and “wanted to take some time off,” so now she’s “doing that.” He also added that “she deserves it,” so clearly they’re fighting and they hate each other.

But seriously, Reedus also told Fallon that he thinks Daryl and Carol will meet up again “at some point,” and now he “might even meet up with some other characters down the road,” which seems to be a hint about what might happen in this spin-off. Nobody asked us, but we wouldn’t mind seeing Daryl traveling around the post-apocalypse United States all alone, maybe with a magic baby strapped to his chest that can see ghosts.

 
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