Norman Reedus Thought He Was 'Going to Die' After Walking Dead On-Set Injury: 'It Was Scary'

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Norman Reedus is opening up about a "terrifying" injury he suffered while filming the final season of The Walking Dead.

The actor, 53, who has played Daryl Dixon for the entirety of the AMC show's 11-season run, revealed that the concussion he suffered while filming the series finale in March was actually "very serious" as he spoke to Entertainment Weekly about the farewell season.

"Oh dude, that was horrible. That whole ordeal for me, personally, was terrifying. I thought I was going to die," he said. "It was very serious. It was scary. I've been hit in the face and the head a million times. I've gone through car windows — but that one rang my bell."

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"I had a neurologist. I had all sorts of s---. I failed the light test. I had a security guard in the driveway, just in case. I was holding onto the walls and walking through the rooms. It was nuts," Reedus explained.

His rep previously told PEOPLE that after suffering a concussion onset, Reedus was "recovering well and will return to work soon." A rep for AMC said that the injury would "push series wrap by a few days."

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Reedus told EW he felt "guilt" over delaying the Atlanta production: "You're shooting over a year, and now we're having to postpone some of the shooting because I'm lying in bed. So the guilt of me not being at work and people are like, 'Are we going to go a week over? Are we going two weeks over?' That was bothering me."

The Ride with Norman Reedus host explained that he has "headaches already" due to a 2013 accident in Berlin, in which an 18-wheeler plowed through his car, and he was ejected through the window. He noted that, because of a metal eye socket he subsequently had to have, "light sometimes affects me in weird ways."

Reedus previously opened up to PEOPLE about the emotions he felt on the last day of filming, following 12 years with his Walking Dead family.

RELATED VIDEO: Norman Reedus Pays Tribute to The Walking Dead as Series Wraps Final Season: 'What a Ride'

"There were a lot of tears and a lot of speeches," he said in May. "They handed me the mic first, and I was like, 'Uh oh,' because I was nervous... It was super emotional."

"I think what I'll miss the most is the people, not just the cast, but the crew. You become very tight with the crew after that long. We've become really good friends and a lot of us still keep in contact," Reedus added.

The final eight episodes of The Walking Dead begin air Sunday, Oct. 2 at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.