“It put fear in me,” Reedus admits, only half-joking. He did not cut his hair.
“I always wanted my crew. Being a father is by far the coolest thing I’ve ever done.”
Switching Gears
Reedus is becoming an industry unto himself.
A couple of years ago, he opened the first Nic & Norman’s restaurant—co-owner Nic is Walking Dead executive producer Greg Nicotero—in Senoia, GA, where the show filmed. They opened a second location in Chattanooga, TN, and this year a third opened in Lexington, KY.
The restaurants will no doubt pour plenty of Big Bald Head whiskey, which Reedus is releasing this year. (Big Bald Head, also the name of his production company, comes from a line in a song by performance artist Laurie Anderson. Reedus saw one of her shows as a child, and the phrase always stuck with him.) Reedus partnered up with WhistlePig to develop the spirit, all but guaranteeing attention from whiskey nerds.
Anyone sitting at a Nic & Norman’s bar, waiting for their table as they sip a Big Bald Head, can pass the time by streaming the new season of his motorcycle travel program Ride, which Reedus is filming—you guessed it—this year. (After shooting an initial episode in Utah, he and his guest riders will head to Europe.) Or by reading Reedus’ first novel, The Ravaged, which came out earlier this year. Though the title would be perfect for a postapocalyptic saga, it’s not about zombies. Instead the book tells the story of several different people, some running from danger, who converge and “find a sense of family while they’re on the move”—not unlike the characters on The Walking Dead.
“There’s a lot of me in the book, a lot of my stories,” he says. “But I can’t help but think I’m drawn to tell stories like this because of the show.”