Jon Bernthal has been on a roll ever since his breakout role of Shane on ‘The Walking Dead‘ in 2010. The actor has indeed come a long way from there, securing a major part in the Marvel Universe as The Punisher, aka Frank Castle. Along with this television success, Bernthal also made a notable presence on the big screen with movies such as ‘Fury‘ and ‘The Wolf of Wall Street.’
This year, he’ll be starring in Christopher Nolan‘s ‘The Odyssey‘ and is expected to reprise his role as Frank Castle in ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day.’ But do you know that none of that would even be possible if he hadn’t accidentally taken an acting class at Skidmore College and made his classmates cry?
Jon Bernthal Reduced Everyone To Tears With Fake Mother Story
In the late 1990s, Bernthal played baseball at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY, as an undergraduate. While there, the curriculum encouraged him to take an acting theater class for an “easy A” as an athlete.
Related: Why Jon Bernthal’s Shane Outlived His Comic Book Counterpart In ‘The Walking Dead’
During the first task, which required him to bring something sentimental to the class and reflect on it, the actor chose something unexpected and delivered a made-up tragic story about his mother that brought everyone, including him, to tears.
“…I totally didn’t bring anything…The only thing I thought to do was to get my catcher’s glove, [that] I was going to fall practice right afterward.” He told the class that his mother gave the glove to him on her deathbed, while she was actually alive and kicking.
“I just thought that was sort of acting. And then me and my brother, we just have a catch…And everyone’s crying their eyes out. I’m crying my eyes out. I really went to this crazy place. And I’m like, ‘Whoa, guys, I’m just doing the acting here. Chill out.’”
Just when things got a little too emotional, a woman on the team made everyone leave and then thrashed Bernthal for faking the story before saying, “You’re auditioning for the play. Learn this monologue. Come back tonight.” Meanwhile, he is now buckling up to star in Nolan’s epic saga, ‘The Odyssey.’
Bernthal Gears Up For Nolan’s Upcoming Movie
Some of the newcomers making their debuts in a Nolan movie include Lupita Nyong’o and Jon Bernthal, who play Helen of Troy and King Menelaus of Sparta, respectively. Ahead of the big release, Bernthal spoke about his experience working with Nolan.
In Case You Missed It: The Real Reason Why Jon Bernthal’s Punisher Is Missing From ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 2
“There’s such comfort in going to work with someone like him, that you’re seeing somebody doing the very thing that they were put on this earth to do…It’s such a comforting feeling to be in the hands of a master.”
As someone who has worked with legendary filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, Denis Villeneuve, Steve McQueen, and Edgar Wright, Bernthal couldn’t help but draw parallels. “In my experience, the true best of the best with filmmakers, they approach things so differently.”
“But the one thing that’s uniform is this unbelievably—I mean, beyond thorough—just this intimacy with the story, this knowledge of it, knowing exactly what they want and to be able to explain it and convey it in this unbelievably cogent and clear way.”
While we get ready to watch Bernthal in two of this year’s most exciting projects, let’s not forget that it all started with a random acting class that unlocked raw human emotions, carrying him from college theater society to the hands of our generation’s greatest directors.
You Might Also Like To Read: When Stanley Kubrick Almost Took On One Of Disney’s Most Beloved Classics ‘Pinocchio’
