Norman Reedus Defends Melissa McBride Exiting 'The Walking Dead' Spinoff

justjared.com:

Norman Reedus is speaking out about Melissa McBride‘s exit from the upcoming The Walking Dead spin-off.

The 53-year-old actor made an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Monday night (May 2), and defended his longtime co-star from the criticism. Click inside to read more… Norman and Melissa were both slated to star in the spinoff series, which focused on their characters, Daryl and Carol.

However, Melissa chose to step back. “Twelve years is a gruelling schedule,” he shared about the situation. “She wanted to take some time off and she’s doing that.

She deserves it.” While Norman supports her decision, he still hopes that one day Melissa will return to The Walking Dead world. “I imagine those characters are going to meet back up at some point, and they might even meet up with some other characters down the road,” he said. “In the meantime, they were like, ‘Hey, you wanna go on a mission?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, let’s go on a mission.’” Following Melissa‘s announcement, AMC also stepped in and made a statement about her exit as fans started to spew hate at Norman.