Let's Discuss: What Do You Find So Sexy About Norman Reedus, Anyway?

By Dustin Rowles | Case Study In Hotness | February 5, 2015 |

By Dustin Rowles | Case Study In Hotness | February 5, 2015 |

I don’t know who my favorite character on The Walking Dead is. It seems to change each season, and lately, the grizzled, assertive, and slightly psycho Rick Grimes may have taken that crown away from Lauren Cohan’s Maggie, whose brilliant second and third season seems to have been supplanted by a weak fourth and fifth season (same for Glenn).

But no matter who my favorite The Walking Dead character is, Daryl Dixon always seems to hold my number two or three position. He’s a great henchman — a kind of reformed bad guy with a soft heart and a great sense of humor.

But I do not find Daryl Dixon attractive. This has nothing to do with my gender or sexuality, because I have no qualms with admitting when a man is dead sexy. But Norman Reedus?

He’s got a sort of wiry frame (like young Axl Rose), greasy hair that would look completely at home in a trucker hat, and facial hair that looks like every other step-dad in America. I mean, I know this guy. I grew up with guys just like him in Arkansas. He smokes harsh cigarettes (probably Camel Reds), drinks straight from the whiskey bottle, and actually owns multiple beer koozies.

He’s amazing in the context of the show, but when I think of the female equivalent of Daryl Dixon, I can only think of Juliette Lewis in Kalifornia, who was in a relationship with the Norman Reedus version of Brad Pitt:

It’s not a knock against the guy — after all, he has a child with supermodel Helena Christensen, so obviously reality agrees with the collective opinion. But what is it about Reedus that magazine covers insist is “sexy” and “hot” and “smoldering”?