Due to a concussion, The Walking Dead’s Norman Reedus had to shoot this scene alone

Norman Reedus explained to Vanity Fair how and why Negan and Daryl’s final scene in The Walking Dead series finale was filmed separately. He said that Negan actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan had to leave the set of The Walking Dead immediately to travel to New Jersey to film the spin-off of his character Dead City. Morgan filmed his half of their interaction and goodbye while Reedus was still out with a concussion. The concussion was so bad, Reedus said, that he was not available for filming for several weeks. Reedus said of Morgan, “I didn’t see what he did. I did what I wanted Jeffrey to do because I know Jeffrey so well. [Special makeup effects artist Greg Nicotero] He sort of explained to me what he was doing… I knew how Jeffrey would do it, so I just played that out.

Reedus said he was quite dizzy when he came in to film his part of the scene, but felt well enough to do it despite knowing he was still suffering from a concussion. The scene went smoothly and is now part of the Walking Dead storyline.

Reedus joked about the black eye he had after the concussion and explained why it made it onto the show. He said, “I had so many true blue eyes on the show, and some of them are written into the story, some of them we cover up with makeup, and then some of them we enhance. But it’s no coincidence that I fainted on camera around the time I was actually fainted.”