OK. We have had our LETS GET TO KNOW on several WD characters this week, and now its time for NORMAN REEDUS Since there is SOOOOOO much info about Norman Reedus on the internet, we are doing this Get to know segment in TWO Parts. THIS POST will be all about NORMAN, and the SECOND Get to know Post will be a separate post about Daryl Dixon. Ive been working on this Get to know post for about 2 days now, scouring the internet from tons of different sites to get yall some great info on this awesome guy, so I hope you enjoy and maybe find out some things about Norman that you did NOT know. Please leave comments below and let us know if you like or dislike these Get to Know posts we have been doing all week long or anything else that is on our mind after reading this. DID YOU KNOW MOST, A LITTLE or NONE Of these Norman Facts? Thanks so much!.... ~Blessings ~Tami #RICKSCHICKS Here we go.... LETS GET TO KNOW NORMAN MARK REEDUS Date of Birth 6 January 1969, Hollywood, Florida, USA Birth Name Norman Mark Reedus Height 5 10 (1.78 m) Before we get into all the FACTS and BIO info about NORMAN REEDUS, lets find out, in NORMANS OWN WORDS, 25 THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE KNOWN about this guy: (Taken from a US weekly interview) 1. I eat a chocolate bar almost every night before bed. 2. I have a weakness for Ancient Aliens. 3. When I was a kid, 3 was my favorite number because if rotated, it looks like a pair of boobs. 4. Im usually very neat. 5. Favorite food: macaroni and cheese -- or chocolate. 6. Least favorite: peanut butter. 7. Contrary to popular belief, I have way more than just four shirts. 8. Growing up, The Clashs Straight to Hell was always our sing-along song while we washed the dishes. (Hi, Mom!) 9. Ive never ridden a horse, except on set. 10. I own about 50 masks. 11. I dont follow any sports teams. 12. My first car was a Karmann Ghia. 13. Some of my top movies are Mad Max, Midnight Cowboy and Saturday Night Fever. 14. My favorite thing to do is lie down. 15. I think apple pie-flavored gum is a revolutionary concept and I love it. 16. I once tried using bacon as fishing bait, but I didnt catch anything. 17. My best friend is my cat. 18. My most essential household tool is the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. 19. I prefer to sleep without a pillow. 20. When I grow up, I want to be [Walking Dead costar] Scott Wilson. 21. I use Siri more often than Im willing to admit. 22. I just got a microwave this year. 23. I still havent turned it on. 24. I can only cook on a George Foreman grill. 25. One of the most important things I learned how to do this year is poach an egg (not on a George Foreman grill). WANT TO KNOW MORE FACTS. Heres some more great FUN FACTS in NORMANS OWN WORDS. What’s your favorite food? Norman: Oh, man. What don’t I like? I’m a goat; I eat everything What is your summer routine? Mingus, park, friends. Sunshine, when I can find it. What are you listening to now? Lots of Chet Baker lately and Desmond Dekker. It changes. What were you doing when you were 28? I was up to no good, really. I’ve gotten smarter, I think. I hope. Where is your favorite place to live? New York. Hands down. Where did the name of your production company Big Bald Head come from? Norman- It’s from a Laurie Anderson song, ‘Sharkey’s Day,’ “The suns coming up / like a big bald head.” It was my first concert. What was the craziest New York moment that happened to you? Norman: I remember smoking a joint when I first got here, walking down the street with a friend. A cop yelled us over and said, ‘What are you, an asshole?’ I walked away from that ticketless with my tail between my legs, just scolded like your dad woulda’ done. I would have rather gotten a ticket to be honest. He just slapped me, basically. What has been your favorite performance to date? Daryl, I think. The Walking Dead is such a cool job. I’m over the moon about it. Do you watch The Walking Dead on television? F&%kin’ A, I do. Tell us one thing that no one knows about you. I’m really happy DID YOU KNOW ANY OF THOSE??? Ok..here we go on with MORE about Norman..... Norman Reedus was born in Hollywood, Florida on Jan 6, 1969, to Marianne (Yarber), a teacher, and Norman Reedus. He is of Italian (from his paternal grandmother), English, Scottish, and Irish descent. -*His sister LESLIE was born two years later. *Normans first film was in 1997 *Norman was raised in Los Angeles. WHAT DID HE WANT TO BE WHEN HE GREW UP?? Norman said: --** I wanted to be a Marine Biologist. I remember watching shows of Jacques Cousteau. He was so cool! He seemed to have the best life. I wanted to be him. **Lived for a time in London and Japan. Prior to getting his first acting role, he was earning $7.50 an hour working in a Venice, California, motorcycle shop **Reedus has modeled for Prada, Alessandro DellAcqua, Durban, Levis, Lexus and most recently Morgenthal Fredrics. However HIS MODELING DAYS WERE SHORTLIVED...WHY??? Read the following for a funny story about NORMANS MODELING career. --In 1997, Reedus had the opportunity to be a model. As he tells it, Prada had been using actors, such as John Malkovich, Joaquin Phoenix and Tim Roth, in their campaign, and they were looking for a new face. NORMAN SAID: “It was between me and Nicolas Cage, and It was a lot of fun.” But it was short-lived.WHY??? On his first night, he was getting ready and someone gave him a Prada sweater to wear. He was also given a Coca-Cola to drink. He said that he was waving his arms around, while talking to someone, and he spilled that soda all over himself and the Prada sweater. Since, at that time, he was just a struggling actor sharing one suit with a bunch of his friends, he simply took off the sweater and used it to mop up the rest of the spilled beverage. Everyone looked at him as if he had just committed murder. That modeling gig LASTED ONLY ONE WEEK! **Norman Lived for a time in London and Japan. Prior to getting his first acting role, he was earning $7.50 an hour working in a Venice, California, motorcycle shop. **Norman has a son named Mingus Lucien Reedus with Helena Christensen, born 13 October 1999 in Helenas native country, Denmark. **Was in a car accident in late February 2005 in Berlin, Germany, when after attending a R.E.M. concert, his driver swerved into traffic suddenly at the wrong moment, and a semi-truck struck the car in which he was riding. He was jettisoned through the windshield and landed on the sidewalk, receiving some damage to the left side of his face, for which he had to undergo surgery. *As a result of that car accident, Norman has a titanium eye-socket, as a result of his car accident in 2005. --**Even though he hadn’t fully recovered from his injury, Reedus left the hospital a week early. --**Normans first acting project following his accident was for the Masters of Horror TV series in an episode titled “John Carpenter’s Cigarette Burns” (2005). (Read below for the story of this) NORMAN TALKS ABOUT HOW HE FELT AFTER HIS CAR ACCIDENT: Norman: --“After my accident, I was super self-conscious,” he said. “My face was still swollen, and I looked like I had a black eye. My equilibrium was off, and I would trip over curbs. I felt so not myself. I was terribly afraid, but (JOHN CARPENTER) talked me into doing that part.” (mentioned above) NORMANS FAVORITE FILM when he was young was THE OMEN (1976). Norman said: “I still watch it over and over,” he said. --*When Norman was about 11 years old, he wanted to be Damien (from the movie THE OMEN), and he would torment one of his teachers in a Damienesque manner. He said he would sit in the back of the classroom and glare at her. Norman said: “It was like I was in her mind; stealing her mind,” he joked. “I was fascinated that I could make this older woman squirm; that I had that kind of power. At the end of the year, she asked ‘Why do you hate me?’ I said, ‘No, I love you.’” .**He got his first taste of acting in the play Maps for Drowners at the Tiffany Theater on Sunset Boulevard. **He was first discovered at a party in Los Angeles where he started screaming with giant sunglasses on..He had been drinking too much, yelling at people, and walking around wearing broken sunglasses. While some would react to this kind of behavior in a roll-your-eyes-and-try-to-avoid-him way, a person in the crowd must have been entertained and thought Reedus would make a great actor. A week later, he was in a play and already had an agent - Norman TALKS ABOUT HIM GETTING DISCOVERED (in his own words) NORMAN: --I got a job at a motorcycle shop in Venice called Dr. Carls Hog Hospital. The day I quit that job a friend took me to a party up in the hills, a movie people party. I drank way too much and started screaming at the party from the second story of the living room with these giant sunglasses on, someone asked if I wanted to be in a play and took me for pizza to talk about it. They told me I would get paid so I did it. The first night of the play a wonderful angel of a woman, who was an agent saw me and side pocketed me. Hip pocketed me. Whatever you call that and then I booked some stuff and kept running ever since. Norman said Navigating through Hollywood, etc., I’ve made a lot of mistakes. Maybe those two are connected in some weird way. I started out angry, with big chips on my shoulder, not really feeling like I fit in. Maybe that even helps to an extent. Who knows? I know I kinda glared at everyone for a long time, actors included. I just assumed people were out to hurt me somehow. I was a bit too defensive, maybe. I’m a really nice guy, or so I like to think. You know in that movie Mystery Train, where that girl is putting lipstick on her boyfriend and he’s sitting on the floor? She asks him why he’s always so upset, and he answers, “I’m not, it’s just how my face is.” Maybe I got that face? Hes got a CRAZY STORY ABOUT HOW HE GOT INTO ACTING: NORMAN: I followed a girl to Los Angeles and was immediately dumped. I got a job at a motorcycle shop in Venice called Dr. Carls Hog Hospital. The day I quit that job a friend took me to a party up in the hills, a movie people party. I drank way too much and started screaming at the party from the second story of the living room with these giant sunglasses on, someone asked if I wanted to be in a play and took me for pizza to talk about it. They told me I would get paid so I did it. The first night of the play a wonderful angel of a woman, who was an agent saw me and side pocketed me. Hip pocketed me. Whatever you call that and then I booked some stuff and kept running ever since **He has appeared in seven music videos: Flat Top by Goo Goo Dolls, Cats In The Cradle by Ugly Kid Joe, Strange Currencies by R.E.M., Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead, Violently Happy by Björk, Wicked as it Seems by Keith Richards and Judas by Lady Gaga (as Judas). **He is also a painter, sculptor, and photographer who currently shows his artwork in galleries in New York, Berlin, and Frankfurt. -**He guest starred on the TV show Charmed as Paiges boyfriend He has several tattoos: his fathers name on the left side of his chest (that he got about his heard after his father passed away) , a devil on his upper right arm, Mingus in red on his right forearm, a star on his right hand, two demons on his back, a heart on his right wrist and a snake on his left leg. **He runs a New York-based film production company named Bigbaldhead. -*His female fans have also given themselves fun names like Normans Nymphos, Dixons Vixens, and Reedusluts. Norman certainly seems to enjoy the love, and he shows how much he appreciates his fans by sharing photos of their artwork and gifts on Twitter. And his fans are definitely a creative bunch—the actor has received gifts like squirrel meat, breast implants, and even a plush uterus pillow. One fan even crocheted him a cape made out of BACON (Because Norman had once said that he liked bacon)... Cmon people! Can you get any crazier than that??? *Norman currently lives in New York with his son, Mingus Lucien Reedus. WHY DID HE NAME HIS SON MINGUS???? Read on... --Norman and model Helena Christensen ensured that their son grows up with a love of the arts by naming him Mingus Lucien Reedus after Charles Mingus, a legendary jazz musician. --**Mingus is certainly aware of how awesome his dad is—the 14-year-old is allowed to watch The Walking Dead every Sunday -**Norman Reedus might slaughter squirrels on The Walking Dead, but hes an animal lover in real life. --**As mentioned...Norman might love animals, but hes not opposed to using animals that are already DEAD to create art. The actor is a photographer whose pictures of critters crushed by cars have actually appeared in a Times Square art exhibit. He also has a book of photographs titled The Suns Coming Up … Like a Big Bald Head. It features some of the roadkill photos as well as shots taken from the sets of some of his projects, including The Walking Dead. Norman is also a sculptor who has created avant-garde pieces like a horned vagina and a life-sized sculpture of himself in a box full of rats. ..Um..OK??? -*Norman supports the movement to end cosmetic testing on animals, and hes actually a cat man! -***Reedus has an awesome rescue kitty, and hes even said that he considers the feisty feline his best friend. The actors son must be just as creative as his daddy, because he gave the kitty a very cool name: Eye in the Dark. He came up with the moniker because the black cat blended in with Normans black floors so much that all he could see were its glowing eyes. LOL **This one we ALL already knew, but just for kicks... Norman Is very close friends with co-star Andrew Lincoln. **His paternal grandmother was of Italian descent. His other ancestry includes English, Scotch-Irish (Northern Irish), and Scottish. He rhapsodizes about how The Walking Dead has changed his life and his lifestyle: living out in the woods, riding a motorcycle to and from set each day NOrman says -- through these little two-lane roads with cows going by and the sun coming up or going down, and its really great, you know? **Reedus was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work as Daryl Dixon in 2012. . Personal Quotes My sons room is nothing but Daryl Dixon paintings, dolls, lighters, tattoos and panties. Its pretty ridiculous. Its fun. The Boondocks fans are pretty ferocious, as well. But, I get more Walking Dead stuff now. Its a bonus for me. The same group of people like both things. Its overwhelming to be honest. You cant not look cool with a crossbow. Ive always said its interesting to watch devils cry when angels want to stab you in the back. I like that mixture. The dogs with the loudest bark are the ones that are most afraid. Im still insecure, but when I first started acting, I was really insecure. I glared at a lot of people. I assumed everyone hated me. Somehow that scowl has turned into an acting career. Damaged people tend to gravitate towards damaged people -Tears can be very pretty. Like when someones crying and feeling horrible—watching that happen, or watching yourself do that, finding those little minute reasons and avenues that lock into why they feel like that, theres something very cathartic and beautiful about it. I think once I sort of accepted parts of that in myself, I felt better about myself. Does that make sense? QUESTION: --Before The Walking Dead came along, what did you think you were looking for? NORMAN : -Just peace with myself. Sort of a quiet happy life. I wasnt really looking for anything other than being satisfied with what Im doing every day, and being excited about what Im doing every day. I really matured a lot in my mind and become a happier person in this job because I really like this job and I like the people I work with and I like the environment I work in. I mean, Im not saying that I dont like the success of the job, but I really like going to work every day and I really like coming home and feeling satisfied with what I did today. And, you know, the cuts on my forehead, and the bruises, and the black eyes, it doesnt matter, its awesome. I think that mentality has matured me a lot in the past couple years, you know. I care more about what Im doing, too.
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 18:09:23 +0000