Reedus worked at a
Harley-Davidson shop in
Venice, Los Angeles,
California, and contributed artwork to various shows as a painter, photographer, sculptor, and video artist.
Film and television Reedus played Jeremy in his major film debut
Mimic and Mac in Giovanni Rodriguez's
Red Canyon. He played Murphy MacManus in the 1999 film
The Boondock Saints. In 2005, he starred as the main protagonist in the hour-long "
Cigarette Burns", a
John Carpenter-directed episode of
Masters of Horror, in which his character seeks a uniquely cursed
lost film about an imprisoned
fallen angel. He reprised the role of MacManus in the 2009 sequel
The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day. He played Scud in
Blade II. He guest-starred in
Charmed as Nate, the boyfriend of Paige (
Rose McGowan). Reedus starred in
Hello Herman, which opened nationwide and
on-demand on June 7, 2013. Reedus stars in the reality series
Ride with Norman Reedus, which premiered in June 2016. Most recently, he started Bigbaldhead Productions with an overall deal at
AMC. Reedus played Daniel Pine in the 2025
John Wick spin-off,
Ballerina, alongside
Keanu Reeves and
Ana de Armas. In March 2024,
Thunder Road Films, Dragonfly Films and Impossible Dream Entertainment announced a "reimagining" of
The Boondock Saints, with Reedus and co-star
Sean Patrick Flanery reprising their roles from the first two films and serving as executive producers, although
Troy Duffy would not return as director for the
third film; instead, he plans to write a series of novels.
The Walking Dead In 2010, Reedus began playing
Daryl Dixon in the
AMC television series
The Walking Dead, a horror drama about a group of friends and family members who fight to survive in a violent apocalyptic world populated with flesh-eating zombies and the few surviving humans. The character was not originally in the
comic book series of the same name, but was created specifically for Reedus after his audition for the character of
Merle Dixon.
The Walking Dead comic creator
Robert Kirkman 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 Reedus'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." The drama has evolved into the highest-rated in cable history, smashing all previous records. Reedus was nominated for a
Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance and has overall received critical acclaim for the role. Reedus reprised his role of Daryl as the lead of a
spin-off series centered on his character, following the conclusion of the 11th and final season of
The Walking Dead.
Angela Kang is the showrunner for the series, which debuted in September 2023.
Modeling, music videos, and art Reedus has modeled for Prada,
Yohji Yamamoto,
Alessandro Dell'Acqua,
Durban,
Levi's,
Lexus, and Morgenthal Fredrics. In 2015, Reedus posed for a
Cruelty Free International advertisement in support of ending cosmetic tests on animals. In the mid-1990s, while working as a model, Reedus appeared in the music videos for "Wicked as It Seems" by
Keith Richards, "
Violently Happy" by
Björk, "
Flat Top" by
Goo Goo Dolls, "
Cat's in the Cradle" covered by
Ugly Kid Joe, "
Strange Currencies" by
R.E.M., and "
Fake Plastic Trees" by
Radiohead. In 1999, he appeared in the video for "Mean to Me" by
Tonic. Since achieving fame as an actor, he has also appeared in the videos for "
Judas" by
Lady Gaga, "Sun Down" by
Tricky (feat. Tirzah), "Gypsy Woman" by
Hilary Duff, "
No Cities to Love" by
Sleater-Kinney, and "Curse of the Blackened Eye" by
Orville Peck. Reedus is also a painter, sculptor, and photographer who has shown his artwork in galleries in New York City, Barcelona, Berlin, and Frankfurt.
Video games He was set to star in
Hideo Kojima and
Guillermo del Toro's reboot horror game
Silent Hills, but Kojima left
Konami and the game was canceled in 2015. Reedus reunited with Kojima to star in the videogame
Death Stranding, released in 2019, where he takes the role of Sam Porter Bridges, the protagonist of the game, a courier tasked with reconnecting a post-apocalyptic United States. Reedus reprises his role in the game's sequel,
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, which was released in 2025. Reedus has also reprised his role as Daryl Dixon in the 2013 video game
The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct, which is based on the television series, and has additionally provided his likeness as Daryl for
Fortnite Battle Royale,
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, and
Dead by Daylight.
Author In 2022, Reedus released his debut novel
The Ravaged. ==Personal life==