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Daryl Dixon Might be "Prison Gay" on The Walking Dead

Chris Harnick
September 25, 2014

The Walking Dead is bounding back to TV with a new season on Sunday, Oct. 12, and that means one thing; More Daryl Dixon. But that doesn't mean we'll get answers to this summer's hottest question: Is Daryl Dixon gay?

The topic came up when Robert Kirkman discussed it in a Walking Dead comic book letters column. Then showrunner and executive producer Scott Gimple talked about it—albeit vaguely. Norman Reedus isn't shying away from the discussion. In a recent interview with GQ, Reedus said he discussed playing Daryl Dixon as a virgin and perhaps as "prison gay" with The Walking Dead's original showrunner and creator Frank Darabont.

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"You know, a virgin is interesting. I remember Frank Darabont, after the first season we were at a party in LA, He said, 'I've got an idea for Daryl. He's gay. Would you be interested in that?' I was like, 'Let me hear you out.' He said, 'Well, he's prison gay—like, you'll catch him looking at a member of the same sex, but if you mention it to him, he'll just stab you and be like what the f--k?—he will never admit it.' I was like, 'That'll blow minds—let's do that.' And he said, 'I knew I hired you for a reason,'" he told GQ.

Darabont has since left the show, replaced first by Glen Mazzara and then by Gimple. Not over the proposed gay storyline, but now we're left wondering if his ideas for Daryl went with him.

Reedus said he plays Daryl as somebody "that's not got game."

"Daryl's not the type of guy who's gonna throw somebody up against a tree in the moonlight. I don't see him as having that kind of confidence," Reedus said. "You could drop him off in the middle of the woods with a stick and he'll come back well fed and doing well, but I don't think in matters of the heart he's real secure."

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Earlier, Kirkman teased Daryl Dixon being gay by saying, "All I can say is that it's been discussed. We have very specific ideas about Daryl's sexuality (or the seeming lack thereof), and if there's ever a quiet period in the show where he's not consistently distracted by crossbowing...we'll tackle it in the show."

Gimple furthered Kirkman's statements and said Daryl's sexual orientation won't be discussed in season five, but the show plans to introduce a gay character. "The fact that there's still a question as to what Daryl's orientation is in season five absolutely speaks to Daryl's character; he is a very guarded, very closed-off individual in a lot of ways," Gimple told TVLine. We have been able to see him ever so slowly open up and show the other characters aspect by aspect as to what makes him tick."

The Walking Dead season 5 premieres Sunday, Oct. 12, at 9 p.m. on AMC.

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I always got a gay vibe from his character!  

"Fear Eats the Soul"