'The Walking Dead' heartthrob Norman Reedus once beat out Nicolas Cage to be a Prada model
The INSIDER Summary:
Norman Reedus was a model for Prada and Levi's.
He told Kelly Ripa he beat out Nicolas Cage for the job.
Norman Reedus may break viewers hearts right now as fan-favorite Daryl Dixon on AMC's "The Walking Dead," but back in the '90s he was modeling for the likes of Prada and Levi's.
Reedus opened up a bit about getting the Prada campaign Thursday morning on "Live with Kelly." Host Kelly Ripa asked who the big celebs were that Reedus beat out for the part.
"It was a series of actors who did the campaign - Tim Roth did it, John Malkovitch did it, Joaquin [Phoenix] did it," he clarified. "And then I got a call saying, 'It's between you and Nicolas Cage to do a Prada campaign.'"
Reedus wasn't aware how big the potential for the campaign could be.
"I was like, 'What's Prada?'" the star admitted to a stunned crowd.
"I know, I know, I know. I learned really quick," he quickly added. "A famous photographer came to a set of a movie I did called, 'Six Ways to Sunday,' and took photos and then had dinner with Miuccia Prada."
Reedus said Prada was looking for Prada's next actor and the photographer, who he didn't name, showed off the photos of Reedus she took on set.
The ball started rolling from there. Ripa noted that the campaign was one of the things that really helped his career take off.
"Well, I had done a few films, just I think more people saw the Prada campaign than the films, you know," said Reedus.
Here are a few of those Prada ads Reedus was talking about from the '90s.
Here's the one they showed on "Live":
As a reminder, here's Reedus today on the set of "The Walking Dead":
Reedus will be back on AMC for the show's seventh season which premieres October 23 at 9 p.m.
You can check out his interview on "Live" below: