The Walking Dead, the original series, and the various spin-offs have been a mainstay on television in pop culture for over a decade. The fifth addition to The Walking Dead's expanded universe is The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon - The Book of Carol, centering around fan-favorite Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus), and follows his journey across a post-apocalyptic France overrun with walkers as he hopes to discover a path back to his home.
Created by David Zabel, Season 2 of the spin-off, entitled The Book of Carol, is currently airing on AMC and AMC+. In addition to Reedus, the cast includes Clémence Poésy, Louis Puech Scigliuzzi, Anne Charrier, Romain Levi, and Melissa McBride, who reprises her role as Carol Peletier.
At this year's New York Comic Con, Collider's Steven Weintraub sat down with Reedus, Zabel, Scigliuzzi, McBride, and director and executive producer Greg Nicotero to discuss the impact of a new location in The Walking Dead universe, potential future locations, and plans for Seasons 3 and 4. You can watch the full conversation in the video above or read the transcript below.
Revitalizing the World of The Walking Dead in France
COLLIDER: I am a fan of The Walking Dead, and I've been really enjoying your show. I really think it stems from the fact that you guys are in France, and I think that not being in the same Atlanta forest again and again and again has really added to it. Talk a little bit about what the new location has done creatively.
NORMAN REEDUS: There's a poetic, artistic history to the locations that we're shooting in that adds a lot to the show, not just visually. There are lines in the show that talk about how we've survived these types of things before.
MELISSA MCBRIDE: A lot of these locations are just turning into characters themselves.
REEDUS: Totally.
MCBRIDE: The uniqueness of the locations gives challenges to the actors or to the characters, and that's why they're chosen because some of them are just hard to get around, and some are fortresses.
Image via AMC DAVID ZABEL: The task for us from the very beginning was imagining something we could do that would be beautiful visually that would be distinctive from the Walking Dead, and then building characters and stories around those places. Mont Saint-Michel is an obvious example. But even trying to build a sequence at the Louvre, which is in last week's episode, the Catacombs, trying to think, “How can we get to these cool places that feel nothing like a dusty forest in Georgia?” Then, how can we build characters and stories that justify that and make sense in that world? So, that's the way in which we try to make the show feel different and new. These guys obviously are characters that the audience is very familiar with and love, so there's a connection to the Walking Dead legacy. That part is the part that makes it feel fresh.
REEDUS: There are color palette changes. We were just dripping in sweat in Georgia the whole time. Now, it's super windy and the atmosphere is different.
ZABEL: And the way we film it is different. That's led by all our directors, including Greg, but Dan Percival, who's done a bunch of these episodes and did the first two. He came at it with a different, very European sensibility — he's British — so that also helped enhance the ways in which the show visually, and in terms of vibe, is just different than The Walking Dead.
For the two of you, what was it like when you heard France? When they said, “We're gonna go to France to film,” were you like, “Get the F out of here.” We're not going to France.
REEDUS: I kind of stopped for a second, and I was like, "Wait, what?" At first, I was thinking Daryl Dixon would have never thought about going to France — he might not have even known where France was. It took me a second to figure it out, and then it seemed so insane that I was like, "Yeah, let's do that." That phone call that we got about this show was before the flagship show ended. So, at least, I thought we would take a trip and then go back somehow to the original show. I was taken aback at first.
MCBRIDE: Same. This is the last place on earth I ever thought that the two would end up. I thought maybe New Mexico because we had mentioned it in another episode that that's a place that we might end up.
Louis Peuch Scigluzzi's Surreal Experience of Being Cast in 'TWD: Daryl Dixon'
Image via AMC Louis, what has surprised you about making The Walking Dead that perhaps you didn't think going in?
LOUIS PUECH SCIGLUIZZI: It was definitely unexpected in my life. I thought I was just going to have a casual life, and then two years ago...
REEDUS: It got ruined.
SCIGLUIZZI: But I got a call. I was in Greece, spending some time with my grandmother and my family, and they said, “Come back to Paris. We have a casting for you.” I've never done theater or acting, but they liked it, I guess. I think that's why I'm here, right?
REEDUS: Sort of. Eh.
SCIGLUIZZI: I'm really happy to work with all these guys, and we've had a lot of fun.
That's not what Daryl says.
SCIGLUIZZI: Daryl's a hater. [Laughs]
REEDUS: When he came in, I was like, “That's the kid.” Without a doubt, that was the kid. David can attest to this, I was like, "Him. It's him," right off the bat.
Image via AMC ZABEL: We had a few good actors come in, including Louis. We don't really do this that much, but we brought them in, and they worked with Norman. We did the scenes, and we improvised. We went off the book, and we just said, “Let's do the idea of the scene, but just use whatever words you want.” We came out of that, and Norm was totally sold on Louis. It wasn't just that Louis was so good in and of himself for that character, but also there was a dynamic between Norman and Louis that you can’t make up.
'Daryl Dixon - The Book of Carol' Season 3 Makes an "Interesting" Pit Stop Before Spain
Stephen Merchant is joining the TWD family.
Image via AMC You guys are currently filming Season 3 — congrats. What can you tease about the third season?
REEDUS: It's in Spain.
ZABEL: Eventually, it's in Spain, but there is an interesting stop in between France and Spain that's pretty cool and exciting. Stephen Merchant is in the first episode and plays a very interesting character that we come across towards the beginning. Then, in Spain, we have a totally different vibe from France, which is really cool. We get into a little bit of a Western vibe, a little bit of a spaghetti Western vibe, and the colors are different. It’s sandy, it's dusty, and it’s windy, and we're in this town that's very complicated. We have an amazing cast of Spanish actors. Really great cast.
I haven't seen the finale yet, so I'm assuming there's a reason everyone's like, “We need to go to Spain.”
ZABEL: Yes. Well, there's a reason they end up in Spain. The end of the finale also explains where they're headed at the end of Season 2, which is the beginning of connecting all of that.
Other Locations 'Daryl Dixon' Could Explore in Future Seasons
"Each culture brings a whole new identity to the show."
Image via AMC I'm hoping that you guys get to do more beyond Season 3. Are you thinking about how this show could explore Europe — Season 3 is Spain, Season 4 is Iceland? Is this even in your mind, or are you like, “We need to get back to America at some point?”
GREG NICOTERO: I never thought about it when we first started because you never know how many seasons you're gonna do. But when we were in France shooting Season 1, and then we went into Season 2, there are so many unique cultures to explore, and each culture brings a whole new identity to the show because the characters can't help but be steeped in what the culture was in France and what the culture is in Spain. It's a unique opportunity to see what those cultures are historically, but then what they become in the post-apocalyptic world and how they survive. The show has always been about hope and survival. The thing that I love about Daryl and Carol's characters is they bring hope to the people that they meet. Anybody that they meet, if they're in trouble, Darryl's gonna help them. Carol might lie to them and get on a plane [laughs], and then she'll ultimately help them. She gets what she needs first.
REEDUS: What's also interesting — which also happened in America — is that different groups of people need to believe in something to get through the day, whether it be religion or wearing a dead person's face on your face. They have to believe in something to get through. To have these different places around the world, to figure out what they have to believe in to get through the day, if it's religion or whatever, is kind of fascinating, as well.
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Norman Reedus & Melissa McBride Discuss 'Daryl Dixon' Season 2’s New Walkers
The cast and creators also discuss what the spin-off learned not to do from the original series.
If you do get Season 4, would you continue in Spain because you've built the infrastructure? Have you already thought about where you could go if you get to do another season or two?
ZABEL: Those are things we're talking about and thinking about. They're definitely considerations, and there are various versions of that. We could do some more in Spain, or we could move on to another place potentially. I do love the way that we get to reinvent the show when we move from place to place. I think it's a great way to keep it fresh and to give new stimuli to these characters who have seen and done so much. There are all kinds of conversations about what a Season 4 might look like, and what are some other places the show could go. But we also love being in Spain, and there's a lot of story to tell in Spain. Right now, we're just making six in Spain.
I've been to Iceland, and I'm just gonna say that if you can manage to somehow get there, it is like walking another planet. It’s unbelievable. Just pitching an idea!
ZABEL: That would be awesome. I've never been.
REEDUS: That’s where Bjork lives, right?
Yeah, a whole bunch of stuff films there when they need to use another planet because it's just so unique.
REEDUS: We talked about doing Death Stranding there.
Episodes of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon - The Book of Carol are available to stream on AMC+ in the US.
Daryl's journey across a broken but resilient France as he hopes to find a way back home.
Seasons 2
Story By Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, Charlie Adlard
Showrunner David Zabel
English (US) ·