Norman Reedus may only portray a crossbow wielding zombie hunter on TV, but it looks like his time as Daryl on AMC’s The Walking Dead has translated into some real-life shooting skills. Last night, Reedus payed a visit to NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and the two went head to head in a crossbow game of Facebreakers. Watch as Reedus shows off some of his learned skills below:
Norman Reedus has become one of the most beloved actors on the hit TV series The Walking Dead. His character, Daryl Dixon is often times quiet and distant, but due to his deep knowledge of hunting, tracking and navigating, his survival skills are one of the biggest reasons that the characters on the show have made it so far in the zombie apocalypse. Daryl’s weapon of choice is his crossbow, so, when Reedus stopped up Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show, it was only natural that his skills be put to the test.
The name of the game is Facebreakers, and the object is to to break as many faces of your opponent as possible. In a board that looks like one of those oversized tic-tac-toe boards you see on an elementary school playground, Fallon and Reedus’ face is plastered on each glass square so that upon impact with an arrow, the glass will shatter. The two start the game, and both are off to pretty strong starts. We imagine it is a bit more difficult to gage the speed of a plastic arrow shooting from a crossbow. So we’ll blame Reedus’ few misses on the fact that he’s more used to the weight of the real thing. But, in the end, Reedus comes out on top, and gets his chance to drench the loser (Fallon) in a reverse dunk tank.
But the whole point of the reverse dunk tank is that Reedus must hit a small target that will then pop the water balloon over Fallon’s head. Reedus, who again we’ll blame it on the fact that the plastic crossbow and arrow are more difficult to aim when you are used to the real thing, misses the target. But, he did hit it a little bit on the edge, just not hard enough to make the balloon drop. So, like the sore loser Daryl can sometimes be, Reedus ran up to the target and smacked it himself, drenching the poor late night talk show host in freezing cold water.
Reedus’ character on the critically-acclaimed series is a fan favorite, and the creator of the series is sure to always tease his fans and warn them never to get too attached, but it seems like Daryl is one character that is here to stay. At least for a while. The Walking Dead returned for the second half of Season 5 last Sunday, and is off to a brutal start. You can catch the next episode tomorrow on AMC at 9 p.m. ET.
