Watch The Walking Dead’s Norman Reedus Receive Hollywood Walk of Fame Star

The Walking Dead actor Norman Reedus received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Tuesday, cementing his place in television history next to another zombie legend. Reedus, who has played crossbow-wielding survivor Daryl Dixon on the AMC zombie drama since its first season in 2010, was honored with the 2,734th star on the streets of Hollywood. Awarded in the category of Television, Reedus’ star is located at 6600 Hollywood Boulevard in front of Hollywood Toys & Costumes, near the star of zombie movie icon and Night of the Living Dead creator George A. Romero.

“Norman Reedus is killing it! This fan favorite is constantly showing his talent. From actor to director to artist, his talent knows no bounds,” Hollywood Walk of Fame producer Ana Martinez said in a statement. “Norman’s star will appropriately be placed near the star of Night of the Living Dead creator George A. Romero.” 

Joining the honoree at the star unveiling ceremony was Reedus’ former co-star Jon Bernthal and veteran Walking Dead director and executive producer Greg Nicotero. Fans can watch a replay of the livestream below.

“I’ve been honored to be in the trenches with Norman for the last 12 years,” Nicotero said of their 11-season tenure on The Walking Dead. “He’s been described by the likes of Guillermo del Toro, John Carpenter, and Frank Darabont as ‘thoughtful, intuitive, and instinctual.’ And that’s not descriptions of his work ethic, that’s descriptions of who he is as a person. He would take the shirt off his back. He’s the kind of guy who will roll up his sleeves and dig in and fight for what he believes. He infuses his characters with these traits.”

Bernthal, who played Shane Walsh on the first two seasons of The Walking Dead, recalled his first meeting with Reedus on set of AMC’s adaptation of creator Robert Kirkman’s comic book of the same name. 

“The first time that I ever laid eyes on my dear friend Norman Reedus, I was already a month into the zombie apocalypse … we didn’t actually see him until we were all on camera. He came lumbering into the frame out of those thick Georgia woods as if, somehow, he’d been there all along,” Bernthal said of Daryl’s first appearance in the Season 1 episode “Tell It to the Frogs,” recounting Daryl being “covered with some crazy mixture of mud and blood and grime, and a rope with hanging dead squirrels over his shoulder.”

“He didn’t say hello to us at first. And it wasn’t off-putting or rude, it just was. It gave off this quiet strength, but also this wounded vulnerability, and that would go on to define one of the greatest characters in television history,” Bernthal said.

In his acceptance speech, Reedus paid tribute to his family, including his mother; his partner, actress Diane Kruger, with whom he shares daughter Nova; and his son, Mingus, who Reedus called “the proudest thing I’ve ever done.” Reedus also thanked his Walking Dead “brothers” Bernthal and Nicotero, agents JoAnne Colonna and Tracy Brennan, and Walking Dead cabler AMC Networks.

“I have to thank AMC for giving me this opportunity to play this amazing character. It’s been a real joy. It’s made me a better everything — a better father, a better friend, a work ethic that I enjoy having now, which I didn’t have before.” Of his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Reedus concluded, “I never saw this coming. It’s a real treat, and I’m truly honored.”

Along with his iconic role on The Walking Dead — which he’ll reprise in the Daryl spinoff series premiering in 2023 — Reedus is well-known for playing the role of Murphy MacManus in the cult movies The Boondock Saints and TheBoondock Saints II: All Saints Day. Reedus also stars and executive produces AMC’s unscripted travel series Ride with Norman Reedus, returning for its sixth season this fall, and is developing several projects for the cabler under his production banner bigbaldhead Productions.