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• 0008x – 2012 Photoshoot Sessions > Contentmode – Issue 7 (On Location)
• 0005x – 2012 Photoshoot Sessions > Flaunt – March 2012
• 0001x – I♡H2O > Promotional

Synopsis: Marvel’s The Avengers-the Super Hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel Super Heroes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins.

Norman Reedus: March 2012 Flaunt Feature
Source: Flaunt Magazine

Over tomato soup on an icy night in New York’s lower east side, actor Norman Reedus is talking about road kill. He spares few details recounting the several dead animals he found along the highway while shooting the zombie thriller TV show The Walking Dead in Georgia. We’re huddled in the back of the narrow restaurant, Bread, which Reedus insists has the best soup in the city. The more graphic his descriptions—details of a moose he saw hit by a car—the harder it is for me to spoon down the chunky red broth.

The depiction sounds like a scene straight out of The Walking Dead, AMC’s original series, in which the Florida-born actor plays the crossbow-wielding, zombie-crushing, squirrel-hunting hothead Daryl Dixon. With the next half of the second season premiering February 12, the hit showhas garnered a cult following almost overnight, as has Reedus’ character, which was penned specifically for him. Daryl is a redneck with an unreliable temper and a tendency to think with his fists, obliterating zombies so effortlessly it could be a sport.

“He was written very angry and just like, ‘Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you,’” Reedus explains of Daryl. In all good fiction, however, our protagonists will be multidimensional and as The Walking Dead has progressed, we’ve seen a more complex Dixon, who comes into his own as a protector to a modest group of apocalypse survivors navigating through an unfamiliar world of flesh-eating freaks. “I’m trying to play him as a virgin who was constantly put down and had to fight for everything, as someone with a huge chip on his shoulder,” he suggests of Daryl’s personality. “In television, you kind of have to plant these little seeds and hope that those trees bear fruit. So I’m constantly trying to look for little moments and make this guy evolve.”

It’s hard to see someone as good looking as Reedus—a former Prada model—as virginal. But for two seasons now, the actor has uncannily channeled this loner zombie combatant, proving to be his most revered and strongest performance to date. In the past, he’s portrayed a hitman and Debbie Harry’s son in Six Ways to Sunday; an introverted artist in Gossip; a cocky convict in 8MM with Nicolas Cage; a chain-smoking weapon maker in Blade II; and last year he even rode a motorcycle next to Lady Gaga in her surreal music video “Judas.” It was his breakout role as the gun slinging Christian vigilante Murphy MacManus in Boondock Saints I and II, however, that put him on the map and earned him a host of ferocious fans.

He insists he doesn’t necessarily gravitate towards violent movies, but those he’s most known for tend to spill a lot of blood—ironic, given his view of mortality. “I have a fear of death. I don’t like the idea of it at all,” Reedus elaborates. “I don’t want to get old and die. My dad died when I was younger. He had a twin brother and I saw him die, too. My mom sold coffins for a little while when I grew up. She called them ‘eternal beds.’”
It was with his mother that Reedus jumped around a lot as a kid, living in places like Spain, England, and Japan before love led him to the West Coast. “I followed a girl that I met in Japan to L.A. But she immediately left me and got married.” He found work at a Harley Davidson shop in Venice, while pursuing a career in studio art, something he’s still passionate about. His acting career began accidentally, when someone at a party suggested he try acting.

Offscreen, Reedus is confidently soft spoken with a slacker drawl, leaning in to talk as if revealing a secret. He’s warm, approachable, and interacts with strangers like they’re old friends. He opens doors, says excuse me and thank you, and leaves generous tips. For the most part, he avoids anything too “Hollywood,” preferring a low profile, despite a five-year marriage with Helena Christensen, which ended in 2003. “We’re very easy with each other,” he says of his relationship with the supermodel, who is the mother of his son, Mingus. Now 12, Mingus is barely able get through The Walking Dead without covering his eyes, but the show has made him popular at school. Some of the older kids recently asked, “Is your dad Daryl Dixon? We love Daryl Dixon!”

Reedus finishes his tomato soup and we’re on to tiramisu, compliments of the house. There’s no more talk of road kill, but instead what’s upcoming. He’s just wrapped Sunlight Jr. where he’s an “asshole” in a love triangle with Matt Dillon and Naomi Watts. He also plans to fit in a horror movie before the third season of The Walking Dead, which begins shooting in April. With all the glorified gore in his onscreen worlds, I wonder what he does for fun, imagining his real life more glamorous than the celibate Daryl Dixon. “Oh, Jesus. I don’t have any fun at all. I really don’t go out that much to be honest. What do I do on a Friday night? I steal tourist’s purses. Break shit. Netflix.com.”

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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.

YEUN: Yeah. I think the comics are there and they’re amazing groundwork, but I think the TV show now is going to be in its own world. So I think it would not help us to follow [the comics] heavily, especially since we are now I think one with our own characters. So we don’t want to inform ourselves from any other things.

McBRIDE: I read a little bit of them and then I decided just to back off, because I didn’t want to know too much [about where the series might go], but it has become its own thing. There are going to be new characters introduced that create new conflicts and different catalysts for the characters to change and then find aspects of themselves that are challenging other people, and it’s interesting to see everybody sort of evolving and changing like what you first thought of Rick, and you look at him now. That’s what I like about the show, just by virtue of the circumstances, they become different than what you thought. And I like that. It’s a lot to explore.

AX: Your characters have all explored a lot already. How far ahead of the revelation that Sophia was going to be found undead in the barn did you know about that story development?

McBRIDE: There was some speculation early on, but some of us were like, “No. What, no, that can’t be.” And then the week before we started shooting it, it was for sure, and here she’s coming out of the barn.

AX: What was your reaction?

McBRIDE: “They did! Oh, wow, they did! Well, Sophia’s going to be the most beautiful zombie child in the world.” Wasn’t she? My reaction was, “I can’t believe they did it. They actually did it. Wow. It’s going to be tough to shoot and I hate to say goodbye to Madison.” Because there was always the possibility that we would find [Sophia] somewhere, but this means that she dies twice. You’re done.

AX: Is Carol going to go completely inward, or will she be able to find some human connection after this terrible loss?

McBRIDE: She looks after Darryl, a little bit. She looks out for him. She keeps her eye on him.

REEDUS: He’s like a child, a little bit [laughs]. She and I are both very similar in a lot of ways. Everyone else is out getting nookie and impregnating people and

YEUN: [teasing him] Boinks.

REEDUS: Boinks, that’s right. But we’re very similar. We obviously rely on each other, as Darryl and Carol would.

McBRIDE: Yeah. I like the depth of their connection. She’ll keep her eye out for Darryl. She’s also going to be caring for herself. We’ll see her stand up for herself a little bit in the second half of the season.

AX: Glen has started standing up for himself as well, after starting out letting other people tell him what to do. How has that been?

YEUN: It’s been great, and I don’t think it’s been completely finished yet. He’s an evolving character – as everyone is. And I think the second half is definitely going to be really dynamic as well.

AX: Can you say anything about how the relationship with Maggie may develop?

YEUN: How can I say this without giving anything away? Whatever they have built up towards, it is what it is, but now it’s a crossroads to see how they deal with the reality of the situation, which is, yeah, love in this world is great, but it’s not simple, so how do you [handle it]?

AX: You had a scene where Glenn was dangled down a well, and a lot of that was obviously you and not a stunt double. How was shooting that?

YEUN: That hurt a lot. It was fun at first – it was fun throughout, because it was fun to just go crazy, but [the rig] was basically a seat belt around my groin, so hanging on that for fourteen hours is not as fun as it sounds.

AX: And poor Darryl has been shot by a gun, shot with an arrow. Any more injuries ahead?

REEDUS: He gets injured every single episode. Not as severely as when he had an arrow in him. I mean, yeah, he gets injured some more, all the time. [to Yuen] What about you?

YEUN: I have whiplash every other day on this show. I have so many bruises and cuts on my body all the time, he [Darryl] gets ticks on his private parts, she [Carol] has mental breakdowns. We’re all suffering all the time.

[All three laugh.]

AX: Mr. Reedus, you’ve done a lot of genre material – you were in MIMIC with giant bugs pretending to be people, BLADE II with vampires, PANDORUM with aliens, the MASTERS OF HORROR episode “Cigarette Burns” and now WALKING DEAD. Do you have a favorite kind of non-human critter you’ve played against?

REEDUS: I like John Carpenter’s “Cigarette Burns,” the Willowy Being with the cut-off wings. That was fun.

AX: It seems like vampires were the main supernatural book and screen supernatural beings for a long time, but now zombies are coming to the fore. What do you think this may mean?

YEUN: I think the world has righted itself [laughs].

AX: Why do you think people are so fascinated with apocalyptic stories in general, zombies or other kinds of end of the world scenarios?

REEDUS: It’s 2012, right?

YEUN: On my birthday, everything’s going to be done.

REEDUS: Really?

YEUN: December twenty-first, 2012. [The apocalypse is also a metaphor for] being sick, you grow old and you become sick. It’s all real-life stuff. It’s also people that would never hang out together, ever, figuring out how to hang out together. I mean, movies like CONTAGION – that scared the crap out of me. More so than THE OMEN.

McBRIDE: I think [the apocalypse] is kind of a meme, for one thing. Once somebody starts talking about it, and then creating speculations, and then you have all these theories and then everybody gets on the bandwagon and it’s just this overwhelming worldwide [screams in panic], you know? Plus, it’s a thing that we fear. We like to look at it, but don’t touch, because let’s see how close we can get and see other people [dealing with it].

AX: Anything else you’d like to say about THE WALKING DEAD right now?

YEUN: To the fans are watching the show, we really love this job – it’s our favorite job, and you guys are keeping it alive, so thank you.

“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.”

And 2011 was a busy year. Reedus portrayed Judas in Lady Gaga’s controversial Judas video opposite Gaga’s Mary Magdalene. In Robert Redford’s film The Conspirator, Reedus was Lewis Payne, one of four people hanged for conspiring to kill Abraham Lincoln. Reedus has three films in post-production, including an art-house film, Sunlight Jr., with Naomi Watts and Matt Dillon.

But without a doubt, The Walking Dead is raising his profile. The seven-episode first part of Season 2 averaged 8.9 million total viewers last fall, including 6.1 million ages 18 to 49, more than any other scripted cable drama among young adults. Last fall’s premiere night garnered 11 million viewers; six more episodes air beginning Sunday.

Dixon and Reedus have captivated such fans as Elizabeth Hill of Holliston, Mass., one of the founders of fan site Dixon’s Vixens (dixonsvixens.com). “If I were stuck in a zombie apocalypse, Daryl’s definitely someone I’d like to have on my side.”

And fans come in all sizes. “I picked up my son (Mingus, 12, whose mother is Danish supermodel Helena Christensen) from school the other day,” Reedus says. “He had this big grin on his face, and I asked him, ‘What are you smiling about?’ He said some of the bigger kids at school had asked him, ‘Is your dad Daryl Dixon?’ “

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.

Kat Graham Lands Record Deal
Source: Contactmusic

Vampire Diaries star Kat Graham is launching an assault on the pop charts after landing a record deal.

The former back-up dancer for acts like Missy Elliott and Pharrell Williams has also starred in music videos for Akon, Nelly, John Legend and Justin Bieber – and now she’s preparing to carve out her own music career after signing a deal to release her first album.

In a video posted to YouTube.com, she tells fans, “I am so, so excited to share my big, special announcement with you guys. As you can see I’m in a recording studio… the reason is I am now signed to A&M/Octone Records.

“It’s my first time being signed to a major label and we have a single. The new song that you guys will be hearing is called Put Your Graffiti On Me. We’re shooting a music video this weekend and I’m so excited that you guys are going to be a part of this journey with me!”

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.

Do your characters enjoy the cat-and-mouse game you play with detective Bloom?

Sean: Yes. Yes.

Norman: Absolutely, yeah. She’s one of us.

What’s your character arc in this film?

Norman: There are things that happen that change us. Specifically within our family. We change at the end, but we’re basically the same people.

Sean: The ideals stay the same. The mechanical element and the way we move forward, the way we graduate to increase what we feel is right with the world takes on a different function. But the meaning and ideology are the same.

The first Boondock Saints really hit a nerve with a lot or people. What appeals to you about these films?

Sean: The schoolyard mentality, man. It’s an ethical, moral story. You f**k shit up, you’ll get f**ked up. There’s no waiting eight months and maybe you get a slap on the wrist. Hollywood should be that way: if an agent treats you like shit, he should get an elbow to the dome, period. You go to any high school yard, shit is regulated. If you talk shit to somebody, after school, behind the 7-11, you’re gonna get the shit kicked out of you. It’s the high school code.

So it’s about accountability and that actions have consequences?

Sean: Everyone should face repercussions for their actions. That’s why people love this story. It’s like one of my favorite quotes from Albert Schweitzer, “Good is that which promotes life, evil is that which destroys life.” That’s how I live my life. I’ll do what I can to promote the greater good. If you can harm one person to save 1,000, I’m gonna do it every f**king time. I don’t give a shit about hurting somebody’s feelings. Or being politically correct. For me, there is no getting into character as far as this film is concerned. I believe this film. It’s the way the world should operate. We’ve lost the schoolyard code. Every guy who’s really a guy knows that code.

How has the film affected your view of crime and criminals? In preparing for the role, how did you reach the mindset to kill?

Norman: Sean has a very cut and dry attitude. For me, it’s just a film and I don’t get into the politics of it as much. The film is about brotherhood and what you would do for your friends and family. So you get into this family mode.

So what happens in Boondocks II?

Sean: It’s 10 years later and we went back home to Ireland. Something transpires that forced us to come out to face it and fix it. It’s something that demeans our character, our ethics, everything that represents who we are. It also answers a lot of questions that the first one raised.

What’s the dynamic between you and Eunice? Is there a love interest?

Norman: I pushed for that, but I don’t think Troy want these brothers to have any sort of relationship. During the college tours of the first film, fans were saying thank you for not taking it in that direction.

Does Eunice come close to catching you guys?

Norman: She’s actually on our side. She’s very smart and she works with some of our friends.

Do you exact payback by pistols or martial arts or a combination?

Sean: I’ve been doing martial arts since I was nine, but I don’t like to see films that use that stuff. Our guys are street brawlers–they’ll go for the eyes, the groin, they’ll f**k you up with a level of venom and viciousness you’ve never seen. There’s no Queensbury Rules here.

Do you always kill the bad guys?

Sean: If they need to be extricated from the gene pool, yeah. It’s not Batman. It’s boom, you’re done. You’re not gonna be resuscitated.

What about Rocko? Ostensibly, he’s a comedic supporting character, but he’s more pivotal than that, isn’t he?

Sean: He’s cool. We grew up with him. He’s a part of this. In a comedic way, he kind of explains to us what we were doing before we knew what we were doing. He puts us back on the path. His monologue in this film is spot on, probably the best part of the entire film, and it speaks to exactly what I was talking about. It’s being John Wayne, saying what you feel without worrying about offending this group or that. Rocko’s monologue is what both films are about.

How did you prepare for the action in the film, and did you have stunt doubles?

Norman: I had a trainer and I tore the muscles in my neck, so I was in a bit of pain doing some of the action scenes. But you just work through it with lots of coffee. There were stunts that Sean might do that I wouldn’t do, although we did a lot of our own stunts.

Is this film more or less violent than the first?

Sean: Actually there’s more violence in Boondocks II, but it’s not gratuitous.

In the trailer, you’re raising your arms to God before you execute this bad guy. What’s the meaning of that?

Sean: We’re raised Catholic and so to take a life is a big deal. You have to accept that it’s for a greater good. And you have to deal with the 5th commandment: thou shall not kill. So it’s a hard rationalization process to wrap your head around. And when you do kill, it’s asking God to please understand how you got to this point, asking him, “I hope you’re on the same page I am. From the tools and the mind you gave me, I think this is what I should be doing and I hope I’m right.”

How do you like working with Troy?

Norman: It’s a very collaborative working relationship. He’s not on the outside looking in. He’s very much in the room with you. He has very clear ideas about what he wants. You’ll end up doing something his way, and he’s right. You trust him.

What about the dynamic between you and Romeo?

Norman: He becomes like a third member of our team. We find him amusing and we like his style. He’s like one of us and we bring him in.

Do your characters ever have doubts about their roles as avengers?

Norman: No. They’re very black and white. That’s the attraction the film has. The brothers are focused and convinced that what they’re doing is right.

What’s your favorite film?

Norman: ”Midnight Cowboy.” When I saw it, I realized how important editing can be to a film. I even had a kitten named Ratso Rizzo.

Sean: I liked “Man Bites Dog,” which I thought was one of the most realistic depictions of graphic violence I’ve ever seen. It’s tongue-in-cheek and kind of weird. When he’s smashing that guy’s head against the porcelain sink. I love payback films. I also really liked parts of the documentary “Tyson.”

What do you think the audience should take away from Boondocks II?

Norman: A strong feeling of family. A bond. The film basically asks, “How strong are your convictions about family and friends.”

Norman Talks Blood, Dirt & Art
Source: Dixon’s Vixens

Norman Reedus gave a quick interview to The Walking Dead Br in which he talked about Daryl Dixon and several other aspects of his career. The original interview (in Portuguese) can be found here. We’re honored that Kelly has made the English version available for us to share on this site. Thank you Kelly!

by Kelly Ribeiro and Danielle Klizas

How exactly did you go into acting?
I was introduced to a director I ended up doing a play for at the Tiffany Theater in Los Angeles after I drank too much at a party and started screaming at all the guests from the second story of a living room. I had just quit my job at a motorcycle place in Venice, so I needed a job. An agent was in the audience of the play the first night I did it and ended up casting me in my first film. I was very lucky I guess.

Tell us a little about your work as a filmmaker. How was the creative process of making those three short films?
Well, I helped start a gallery-artist residence in New York that lasted a few years. The people involved were all very creative and we worked together on a few projects including art shows and creative gatherings. All three short films have different stories how they came together. One of them I was in a Berlin hospital after being hit by a truck there during the Berlin Film Festival, I ended up sneaking out of that hospital and flying to Los Angeles in the middle of the night to film that with a black and blue face and an eye patch over one eye. If you look up a short film called “Meet me in Berlin” that’s a short film someone made about that time. It’s actually all real and really happened. The other one was filmed in New York with friends about a lawyer having a nervous breakdown and meeting himself and eventually being left behind by his new self.

What does “Big Bald Head” stand for?
My mother took me to a Laurie Anderson concert when I was really young – it’s from the song “Sharkey’s Day.”

You have a photo exhibit on display now in New York. How did you get into photography?
I do actually right now it’s to raise money for Oxfam. I travel a lot, makes for good photos.

What have you been listening to these days?
I like so much music. Sonic Youth, National, The Make Up, Dinosaur Jr – I listen to a lot of different stuff pretty much all day.

Do your tattoos have a special meaning behind them or you just picked them for the artwork alone?
They all have different meanings. Some names (my dad died – his name was Norman so it’s above my heart) my son Mingus’ name and other stuff.

Does Daryl ever take showers? He’s always dirty and sweaty even when the other survivors are not.
Well, they are dirty – just not as dirty. You also have to think Daryl has been out looking for Sophia when the others were back at the farm. He cleans up every once in a while. I’m always asking Donna our makeup person for more dirt. It’s become kind of a joke on set that I don’t want anyone dirtier than me. Same with blood. I get jealous if another person has more blood and dirt than me.

In case of a zombie apocalypse, which character do you think you would behave like?
Daryl probably.

What was the most interesting piece of TWD memorabilia you have ever seen?
Well, I stole the crossbow. I have it here with me in New York in my apartment . I gave it to my son.

We hear you’re cast for Sunlight Jr., acting opposite Naomi Watts and Matt Dillon. What’s going to be your role?
Her ex. A jerk. Angry. Sort of living with regret.

Which projects will you be working on now that you’ve wrapped TWD’s second season?
The one you mentioned above first. Then I’m back on the show. Some art shows then zombie world again back in Georgia.