Norman Reedus Wants to Stay on 'The Walking Dead' Forever

Many of The Walking Dead's original stars have exited or are leaving in Season Nine but Daryl Dixon actor Norman Reedus wants to be there until its very end.

Reedus, who debuted as Daryl in the AMC show's third episode, will soon be the third-longest surviving character of the series if Rick Grimes dies with Andrew Lincoln's exit. Only Melissa McBride's Carol Peletier and Lennie James' Morgan Jones appeared before Reedus' Daryl Dixon. James has since left the series for a crossover with the sibling show Fear the Walking Dead. If Reedus has his way, though, he will make it through to the end.

"I started on season one of the show and I'd love to bookend it," Reedus told ComicBook.com on The Walking Dead's Senoia, Georgia set. "I put so much effort into this. For me to walk away now would just seem so cowardly. It's a fight every day in a million different ways, but it's a fight that I've invested in. My family's here. I like my life here. I like riding my motorcycle through the country. I've been in New York a long, long time and now every time I go back to New York, I just wanna go back to Georgia. It's crazy there, especially since the show is so big. I'm very recognizable with my long hair and beady, scary little eyes. It's hard to go anywhere, and I like it here. This is my family now. I'd love to see it to the end."

As for whether or not he expects to get the news of his exit one day, Reedus quips, "We'll all get that script." He does, however, admit that while Daryl grows, Norman Reedus grows. "Daryl has gone from a crook to having a chip on his shoulder to not trusting anybody to having no friends to slowly being trusted to slowly being part of a group and a family to being a leader," Reedus said. "My life has been like that. I'm a better friend. I'm a better father. I'm more responsible. I like my job. I pay attention more."

Still, while the actor wants to see the show to its end, losing Andrew Lincoln as a co-star was not easy for Reedus. The two actors had previously made a pact to leave the show together but the time came for Lincoln to head home to the United Kingdom to spend more time with his family.

"He's been that guy for me. He's really set the bar high for taking it serious," Reedus said. "In a world of zombies and samurai swords and baseball bats and all these things, if we don't play it truthfully as honest as we can, it will just fall apart. He really fought to do that, so in his honor, we're trying to keep that torch lit."

For now, at least, the Daryl fans can contain the riots.

Fear the Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on AMC. The Walking Dead returns for its ninth season on Oct. 7, 2018. For more updates and insider info all year long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter