Norman To Attend Image Expo’s “Walking Dead” Panel
Source: Word of the Nerd

The free world’s favorite squirrel hunter is goin’ back to Cali. Image Comics has announced Norman Reedus will be joining fellow cast member Steven Yeun and Robert Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead comic book, for a panel as part of Image Expo in Berkeley, California. Adding to the excitement- Chris Hardwick, the host of AMC’s The Talking Dead, will lead the panel.

This year’s Image Expo is marking Image Comics 20th anniversary as well as celebrating creator-owned comics in general. Kirkman is an Image partner and his The Walking Dead is definitely one of the most popular creator-owned comics in print right now. Some of the comic book’s popularity stems from having also being hit show on the AMC cable network. And there’s a chance at least a sliver of the show’s popularity is due to Norman Reedus. I cannot think of another actor who could make an emotionally damaged, squirrel sushi eating redneck like Daryl Dixon lovable or as multi-faceted as he has.

Reedus (Daryl Dixon), Kirkman, and Yeun (Glen) will be taking some audience questions. Please permit me a fangirl moment to gush over Reedus. He has taken a character that is not in the source material and had almost no screen time or dialogue in the first season and created a full persona for him. Reedus’ mere screen presence, cult following from Boondock Saints, and that steely gaze have garnered him a highly sought after Daryl Dixon action figure, media attention, and hordes of groups like Dixon’s Vixens online. And thanks to Kirkman and the crew behind the show for realizing the tremendous potential they have in the character as well as the actor. If I were anywhere near California, I would be at Image Expo and I would bring a pair of these squirrel tighty whities for Norman knowing he’d do something artistic and crazy with them later. Do you follow Reedus’ Twitter feed? If you are a fan, do so immediately and just flip through his photos and find the zombie doll photo essay.

Show discussion panels are almost always fun and with this group I think you are guaranteed tears of laughter, behind the scenes dirt, and possibly treated to a spoiler or two. Chris Hardwick is such a genuine fan of the show, Kirkman, and the genre you know he has every fan’s best interest in his heart and would not let you leave disappointed.

Image Comics Image Comics has become one largest comic book and graphic novel publishers in the United States, including The Walking Dead. Image currently has five partners: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino. Image Expo will be held February 24-26, 2012 in Berkeley, California. Panels at Expo range from intimate workshops with limited attendance conducted by Image founders to larger discussion panels. Kirkman will be part of three other panels: taking a comic from the written page to television, the latest on Skybound, and a special question-and-answer session with fans. The Walking Dead panel is on February 25. For more information visit www.imagecomicexpo.com.

Exclusive Interview: The Actors of “Walking Dead” – Melissa, Norman & Steven
Source: Assignment X

AMC’s hit series THE WALKING DEAD returns for the second half of its second season tonight at 9 PM. Based on the graphic novels created by Robert Kirkman, THE WALKING DEAD follows a small group of people trying to survive after most of the world’s human population has become flesh-eating zombies.

THE WALKING DEAD was created for television by filmmaker Frank Darabont, but after the end of first season, he was taken off the series by AMC. Executive producer Glen Mazzara is now the show runner.

The first half of WALKING DEAD’s Season Two ended with a bang, lots of them. Farm owner Hershel Greene, played by Scott Wilson, has been keeping a barn full of zombies, including family members, because he believed they were ill and could be cured. Meanwhile, most of the characters had been engaged in a search for Sophia (Madison Lintz), the missing little girl of Carol Peletier, played by Melissa Suzanne McBride. When survivor Shane (Jon Bernthal) insisted on opening the barn and shooting its undead occupants, Sophia is among the walking corpses. Carol watches as her child is shot in the head by group leader Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln).

Carol’s primary ally right now is loner Darryl, played by Norman Reedus. Steven Yeun’s Glenn started out as a nervous, underappreciated young man, but he’s found some confidence since hooking up romantically with Hershel’s daughter Maggie (Lauren Cohan).

McBride, Reedus and Yeun sit down to say what they can reveal about WALKING DEAD. Given that they’re surviving shooting together in the broiling summers ofAtlanta,Georgia and frequently covered with muck during their work days, it’s not surprising to see there’s a lot of camaraderie among the trio.

AX: So were you guys gratified, surprised, or not surprised at all when WALKING DEAD got picked up for a second season?

NORMAN REEDUS: I think we knew it was coming, yeah. I mean, we kind of kicked butt on Season One, and it was so fun and good and everyone was really into it, I think when Season Two was announced it was happening, I think we weren’t overly shocked.

MELISSA SUZANNE McBRIDE: I was surprised. Well, not surprised like it wasn’t going to happen. I was happy.

STEVEN YEUN: I was very happy.

McBRIDE: It was picked up quickly. Sixteen episodes [have already been picked up] for next season, Season Three.

REEDUS: Yeah. It feels like we’re doing something right. I remember reading the pilot in the beginning and thinking it was really going to be like something I would watch.

AX: Not asking if one is better than the other, but is there any contrast in show running styles between Frank Darabont and Glen Mazzara?

YEUN: You know, obviously, each one’s going to have their own style. I would say we’re lucky to have either one. We were very fortunate to have Frank, and it sucks what happened [in terms of his absence], but Glen really brought his own thing and he’s fantastic.

REEDUS: It brought the cast and the crew and the writers and everybody closer together, because [in Darabont’s firing] something bad happened, and we worked really hard to keep our good thing, and that’s what we’ve done. And Glen’s done a bang-up job. He’s been awesome.

McBRIDE: Yeah. It was a show that Frank worked really hard to bring to television and it was a great project and a lot of us were very happy to be there and we had a job to do. And it’s still a fantastic job, and I was happy to hear that Frank has just written a pilot [L.A. NOIR] that got green-lit for TNT. So that’s exciting.

AX: How much, if any, how much have you guys read THE WALKING DEAD comic books, or has the series diverged so much from the source material by now that it’s not relevant to what you’re doing?

REEDUS: I got into [the comics] when we first started doing the show, but I didn’t want to know exactly what happened and [the series has] become its own animal. Rick Grimes is Andy Lincoln to me now and so forth. So I didn’t really want to know the storyline so much, to keep it fresh. But I do know them, I just haven’t read them.
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“Walking Dead’s” Melissa McBride Talks About Daryl
Source: Zap2it

When we talked to “The Walking Dead’s” Melissa McBride (she plays anguished mother Carol Peletier) at the Television Critic Association’s Winter press tour, we didn’t yet know that cast mate Jon Bernthal — who plays Shane — may be leaving the show (if rumors about his plans to star in another project are true) by season’s end.

Now that we do have that information it makes this statement seem that much more interesting to consider:

“Some people are gonna die,” she told us, without embellishment.

We’re figuring she’d hardly make that kind of statement unless she meant actual cast members. Right? And as the first half of the season showed us, the show’s creative team doesn’t shy away from killing off some of its more sympathetic — and promising — characters. We lost both the utterly sympathetic Sophia, Carol’s daughter played by Madison Lintz, and Otis (Pruitt Taylor Vince in a role we’d hoped would last longer than a few episodes).

As we gear up for the second half of Season 2, which starts Sunday (Feb. 12) on AMC, Zap2it wanted to find out what’s in store for McBride’s character now that she’s essentially a mother without a child, a nurturer with no one to nurture.

“You may see Carol pick up a weapon in the second half of Season 2,” says McBride. “Let’s say that.”

Which would be kind of cool since we’ve been watching Carol’s inner strength and self-assertion slowly build throughout the series.

“She’s been through so much alone just to survive before any of this [zombie stuff] happened and women who have to deal with [spousal abuse] and come out the other side,” she says. “Even when they’re enduring it there’s a strength that none of us can touch.”

But as to that nurturing, McBride predicts (or knows) that some of that energy will be spent on fellow apocalypse survivor Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus).

“A lot of it is going to continue to develop with Daryl and how he deals with the loss of Sophia and what it’s meant to him. He’s going to detach a little bit and she’s going to want to bring him back in to the fold of the group.”

“But, As the season progresses there are questions,” she adds. “Is that fold really so great? Do I want these people guiding me out of this? If they guide me out of this, what are they guiding me into? Some of the characters are asking if they’re better off by themselves.”

McBride was working as a casting director in Atlanta when she got a call from series co-creator Frank Darabont, who she’d worked for in 2007′s “The Mist” (along with Scott Wilson and Laurie Holden).

“It’s been kind of a fluke. You never know,” she says of her sudden steady gig. “And that’s a great lesson to hold on to — you never know what’s around that left-hand turn.”

As for more show details, this is all we could manage to pry out of McBride:

“We won’t meet the Governor this season, I know. There will be some additional new characters introduced before the season is over.”

So there you have it.

“Walking Dead” Return Delivers Monster Ratings
Source: Inside TV – Entertainment Weekly

AMC’s midseason return of The Walking Dead broke the show’s previous records.

On Sunday night, the zombie drama had 8.1 million viewers and 5.4 million viewers among adults 18-49. That’s TV’s biggest drama series telecast in the adult demo in basic cable history. That’s up 12 percent in the demo compared to the show’s previous record, October’s season 2 premiere. Combined with its encore, Walking Dead had 10.1 million viewers for the night.

Which is awesome and all, but … you realize it’s only going to encourage the writers to do more chatty-chat farm-based episodes, right? Lot of fans feel like the show is in danger of turning into, uh, Little House on the Zombie Prairie (sorry, best I could do). Here’s our interview with writer Robert Kirkman about last night’s episode where he promises, “Things just keep getting worse from here” (meaning in a fun way, of course).

At 10 p.m., AMC’s new series Comic Book Men executive produced by Kevin Smith had 2 million viewers. That’s not bad for an unscripted show on AMC, but it would be a lot more impressive if not for its massive Walking Dead lead-in.

Norman talks about ‘Walking Dead’ fan favorite Daryl
Source: USA Today

Two things are a given when AMC’s The Walking Dead returns Sunday (9 ET/PT) with the long-awaited second half of Season 2:

The weary band of survivors of the zombie apocalypse (as well as fans) still will be reeling from events that occurred during last fall’s closing episode in which the horde of walkers hidden in Hershel’s barn — including Carol’s daughter, Sophia — are annihilated.

And fans will be thrilled to again hang out with Daryl Dixon, the show’s consummate hard-nosed survivalist, as portrayed by Norman Reedus— who is stalked by hordes of fans himself these days.

“It all comes down to Norman,” says executive producer Robert Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead comics (in which Dixon does not exist). “I feel absolutely blessed he has honored our show with his presence, and the way he has come in and taken over that role and defined Daryl Dixon.”

Just who is Dixon? One cranky redneck, who’s all business when it comes to staying alive. He can hunt squirrel and silently kill zombies with his crossbow. Last fall, Dixon had the knife skills and fortitude to disembowel a zombie and search its “gut bag” for body parts.

He also started showing a softer side as he grew closer to his fellow refugees and relentlessly hunted for the missing Sophia, one of two children living with the group.

Dixon’s many-layered personality, Reedus says, is part of his appeal. “Originally, he was supposed to be this angry guy with a racist viewpoint who hated everybody, and you’ve seen him grow and become a better person. Maybe that has something to do with it,” says Reedus, 43. “Daryl is this guy who needs a hug, but if you try to hug him, he’ll try to stab you. He doesn’t want to talk about his feelings, but you can tell there’s a lot of feelings bottled up.”

Says Kirkman: “A lot of Norman’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 actor has always courted cult appeal. The Boondock Saints, a 1999 dark action flick in which he starred with Sean Patrick Flanery and Willem Dafoe (and 2009 sequel The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day), has spawned its own fan sites, including theboondockbetties.com. Fans “will run across the street and tackle you to the ground,” Reedus says, “but The Walking Dead has definitely opened a lot of doors for me.”
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The Walking Dead Two-Day Marathon Starts Feb. 11
Source: The Walking Dead – AMC

The Walking Dead returns with all-new episodes on Sun., Feb. 12 at 9/8c. Which may leave the uninitiated panicking about how they can possibly catch up in time. Worry not! On Sat., Feb. 11 at 8/7c, AMC begins a two-day The Walking Dead marathon on-air covering the full series to date. First comes all six episodes of Season 1 back-to-back on Saturday starting at 8/7c. Then on Sunday, the marathon continues with Season 2 episodes starting at 1:30PM/12:30c, leading right into the Midseason Premiere, “Nebraska” at 9/8c.

Click here for the full The Walking Dead marathon schedule.

Episode Synopsis: Rick and the others try to restore order in the aftermath a terrible discovery. When Hershel takes up an old habit and disappears, Rick and Glenn must follow him into town.

‘Walking Dead’ Stars Weigh In On Life After Sophia
Source: Splash Page (MTV)

We “Walking Dead” fans are no stranger to death and depression on the show. From what we’ve seen so far over the course of the first and second seasons tells us that we must approach every episode with uncertainty and/or the knowledge that a major character could be offed or zombified at any moment.

Case in point: the show’s mid-season finale during which the search for Sophia ended for good. MTV News recently caught up with Steven Yeun, Melissa McBride and Norman Reedus during the show’s appearance at the TCAs over the weekend and asked them to tease what’s next for our stunned survivors.

“For my character Carol, she’s got to deal with the grief and how she’s going to move forward,” McBride said.

“I think for all of us she was a symbol of hope,” Reedus added, speaking to the gravity of the loss of Sophia. “If we could hold onto her then [we'd] maybe save a little piece of ourselves as well. Once that went down, all bets are off and everybody’s miserable and homicidal at this point, especially her,” he said, pointing to McBride.

“I think keeping hope alive for her represented, even though all the odds were against finding her alive, you just sort of cling to that hope,” McBride continued. “[Sophia represented] that unseen thing that’s going to carry you through and to have her come through the barn the way she did, I think it’s really throwing a lot of doubt on faith. What unseen thing is going to help us through this? Is it really out there?”

You can watch the interview at the source.

“The Walking Dead” Gets 16-Episode Order for Season 3
Source: The Daily BLAM!

Although the two previous seasons of the hit AMC series, which is based on the popular Image Comics creation by Robert Kirkman, has comprised of thirteen episodes each, the next season has been extended by three additional episodes.

During the Television Critics Association (TCA) Press Tour, AMC announced that the upcoming third season of The Walking Dead will feature 16, hour long episodes; upping the current release structure by three. The rest of the recent press release can be found below:

“Season two of the critically acclaimed global hit series continues to deliver the strongest telecasts for any drama in basic cable history against Adults 18-49, as well as, top international pay-TV ratings on Fox International Channels’ (FIC) major markets. “The Walking Dead” is based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics. Glen Mazzara serves as series’ showrunner and executive producer. Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, David Alpert and Frank Darabont are executive producers with Greg Nicotero as co-executive producer.

“”The Walking Dead” has received rave reviews from countless critics, both domestic and international, who heralded the series as “above all else, ‘The Walking Dead’ hasn’t lost the most important ingredient in its strangely successful recipe: it’s thrilling” (The Hollywood Reporter), “…with Dead’s riveting cast of characters, the personal dynamics are almost as potent as the gory thrills” (Us Weekly), “‘The Walking Dead’ is a feast. Dig in.” (The Guardian, UK), “It doesn’t even take three minutes to realize that this series is setting standards” (Der Tagesspiegel, Germany).

“”The Walking Dead” secured a 2010 Golden Globe(R) nomination for Best Television Series – Drama and won the 2011 Emmy(R) Award for Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup. The series tells the story of the months and years that follow after a zombie apocalypse. It follows a group of survivors, led by police officer Rick Grimes, who travel in search of a safe and secure home.”

The Walking Dead stars Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laurie Holden, Jeffrey DeMunn, Steven Yeun, Chandler Riggs and Norman Reedus. AMC’s Emmy Award-winning horror drama, based on the acclaimed comic book series by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard, airs Sunday nights at 9/8c on AMC.

Boondock Saints Interview: “We change at the end”
Source: ACED Magazine Network

Written by: Alex Kecskes

A cult favorite, Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day reprises the roles of Connor and Murphy MacManus doling out justice with no mercy for hellbound souls.

For nearly a decade, the brothers have been living sans side arms with their father on a sheep farm deep in pastoral Ireland. Yet evil knows no rest as they are framed for the murder of a Catholic priest in Boston. Our honor bound duo must return to Boston and set things right as only the MacManus brothers can. In a recent one-on-one interview, Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flanery provided some insights on the sequel everyone’s talking about.

What’s the backstory of your characters?

Sean Patrick Flanery: All actors have different methods. For me, it starts on page one and ends at fade out. I don’t need to kill someone to know what it feels like. So the origin of the character came with me reading the script. That’s pretty much it. Some people would love to hear me say that I went on some mental killing spree to “find myself” and get into the character, but he (points to Norman) did. He’s messed up (Norman laughs).

Norman Reedus: It’s like being with this group. It’s too brothers. And when you’re all together, it’s really easy to get into this mode.

Sean: The ideology is something I believed in my whole life. I believe in schoolyard mentality. If you screw up, you deserve to get the shit kicked out of you. Enough with this stuff where you can pull stupid crap and get off with a loophole. If a guy rapes somebody, the girl’s father deserves to grab the guy, scrape his face on the concrete and put a bullet in his head. That’s what I believe.

Norman: (laughs) That’s why he has a shiner right there (referring to Sean’s bruised eye).

Sean: There’s no accountability anymore and people get off with a slap on the wrist. It’s just pansy ass shit. My granddad wouldn’t stand for that kind of shit.

Before you knock your characters off, do you feel a sense of redemption for them?

Sean: Redemption implies that your self worth comes at the end. I think it’s there from the start. If it’s your core values, it’s there from day one.

Norman: I don’t know if it’s forgiveness. It’s more of sending them where they need to be.

Sean: Exactly. Without getting into too much religious philosophy, it’s the greater good. If I have to remove one to save ten, I’ll do it in a heartbeat. If I have to waterboard somebody to save a thousand people, I’ll do it in a heartbeat.
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