Norman Reedus

“The candy-coated sandman, Blue Velvet. This is one of my favorite movies. There’s certain directors that... They’re the star of the movie. Where you watch a movie and you’re like, “Who’s the dude that made this movie? Or the lady?” And this is one of those movies that, when I saw it, I was like, “Who’s that guy?” And I have a crazy connection to this movie because I had a friend of mine, when I lived in Los Angeles a long time ago, she had the ear in a jar on her desk. She worked at the Picture Factory, David Lynch’s company, in L. A. At the time. And I used to paint back then and I, I sold them a painting that was in their offices. It was a baby jumping through fire and it was wrapped in all this wire and stuff. And I remember going into their studio and them playing me a track, an audio track that they were going to use in a movie. And it was really loud in this studio, and it was an army... Marching through the snow to speed metal. So it was like... And I was like, “I love all of these people.” So this is– Do I get to keep these?”

“Okay. This movie, The Color of Pomegranates. “Wow” to this movie. And this one, like the music and the artwork and the colors is just, like, another level right here. How I got introduced to this movie. Tarsem was directing the R. E. M. Music video. What’s that song? “Losing My Religion,” right? That whole music video is from this movie. So if, if you’re an artsy-fartsy dude like I am, this is a definite watch.”

“Oh, Videodrome. This movie is another one. This is like one of those movies that you watch and you’re like, “Who’s the dude that came up with this?” Yeah, and James Woods is... James Woods has this thing about him, like... I just want to punch him in the face. But also I think he’s amazing all at the same time. He’s so, so good in this. And also, like, what a crazy movie. And, you know, and... I did a movie with Debbie Harry. She played my mom in this movie. But one of the first things I asked her about was this movie and she immediately went from this to, like, you know, talking about, like, weird artwork and dog armor and H. R. Giger videos she made and she’s showing me things on VHS that Giger did with her. But it went from Cronenberg to Giger and I’m like, “God, you hang– you hang out with the coolest people.” This movie’s really fantastic. And Debbie’s awesome. James Woods is awesome. I’ll keep this.”

“And then My Own Private Idaho. This movie, the Gus Van Sant movie, it’s so honest, like... You know, and this is one of the movies that was coming out when I was trying to become an actor and I was, like, incredibly influenced by River Phoenix. I thought he was just, like, the thing. And... I remember the scene when they’re sitting around the campfire and he’s trying to tell him that he loves him and Keanu’s talking about, you know, “I’m your friend, you know that, right?” And he’s like, you know, “Being a friend is good.” But he’s just... He’s trying to get there, you know, goes into a kiss. But it was, like, one of the most heart-moving scenes. And I was like, “God, how fucking punk rock is River Phoenix?” Like... Everything is honest with this guy, which is which is just beautiful. Then you got Udo with the lampshade. And Udo I love as well– I worked with Udo once and he goes, he’s like, “Come and breakfast with me.” And I was like, “All right.” And so we go down in this super crowded, like, really uptight place, full of people. And he goes, “Yes, and in this movie I just did, I say, ‘I take a gun and I shove it up your... And I shove it up there and I blow your brains out.’” And I’m like... And like everyone at the restaurant slowly turns and he thinks it’s funny. So he gets up and he does it louder. “I take a gun...” And I was just like, “Bro.” But yeah, this is a great movie.”