Fans of The Walking Dead should know by now that Norman Reedus is a bit of a wild man. The actor, who plays Daryl on AMC’s hit series, is known for really getting into the role, even practicing archery on his own time and living in the woods while The Walking Dead is filming. So we shouldn’t be surprised to learn that Reedus is keeping his co-star’s beard in his refrigerator. Should we?
Reedus and his Walking Dead co-star, Andrew Lincoln recently appeared at Walker Stalker Con to talk about their roles in the drama. When Lincoln popped up, however, he was noticeably missing his beard, causing Reedus to remark about the whereabouts of Lincoln’s facial hair.
“You know what’s crazy is I have his beard in a ziploc bag in my refrigerator. True story.”
So, he could have been joking. In fact, we really hope the actor is joking, unless he has imminent plans for the facial hair, like pretending he is Rick Grimes for Halloween. Which, never mind, would still be really bizarre. The two started quipping about possible cloning on the series, which means he could be joking. Or, he just as easily could really be keeping tabs on Lincoln’s facial hair, sort of like how some celebrity moms keep their baby’s umbilical cords in a drawer.
Regardless, just the fact that Lincoln appeared without his signature Rick Grimes look could mean one of several things for the series. Comic Book says The Walking Dead is still in the middle of production, meaning there are a couple of directions the show could be headed in. First, Grimes could simply be shedding his facial hair in an attempt to pretend the world is still civilized. Early on in the series, he played a Sheriff’s Deputy with a five o’clock shadow before growing out his signature look. Maybe the actor simply got tired of the beard and had the show write it out. Possibly the lead is trying to improve his look to be considered for other roles, as well.
Potentially, there could be a more nefarious reason Lincoln is no longer sporting that heavy facial hair. The actor could have, theoretically, cut his hair after finishing his tenure on The Walking Dead. The end of Rick Grimes seems highly unlikely, as Lincoln is the lead character in the series and his storyline hasn’t played out as far as it has in Robert Kirkman’s graphic novels so far. Even though AMC’s series doesn’t always follow the plotlines in the graphic novels, I hesitate to say the beard is a sign of ominous things to come. Maybe it’ll be a sign of hope, instead. And maybe the loss of beard won’t mean anything, at all.
Whatever happens, I think it’ll still be jarring to see Andrew Lincoln go beardless on the show, and I certainly hope the circumstances of his facial hair change will be as interesting as the fact that Reedus is keeping his beard in the fridge.
You can catch new episodes of AMC’s The Walking Dead on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET.
