Jon Bernthal is in the middle of a year that many actors and performers only dream about. He's already starred in a hit Netflix series, His and Hers, and two of the biggest movies of the year so far, The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
As such, Bernthal has been doing a ton of press, looking back at his iconic roles, and reflecting on his journey in film and TV so far.
In an interview with GQ, Bernthal shared some thoughts about his breakout role playing Shane Walsh in The Walking Dead.
"I think it was the first chance that I got an opportunity to play a character with a real beginning, middle, and end, an unbelieveable journey with palpable touchstones along the way," Bernthal said about playing Shane. "These sort of buoys on the water of being with your best friend, and falling in love with your best friend's wife, the zombie apocalypse, your best friend coming back. There were just these touchstones that were laid out in the comic, and then sort of just being in the hands of Frank Darabont."
It wasn't all sunshine and roses for Bernthal on The Walking Dead, though. Of course, Bernthal starred as Shane on the first two seasons of The Walking Dead under, mostly, Frank Darabont, who Bernthal has a lot of praise for in the interview, as well.Â
"Shane was the first character I ever got to play on film who really turned his back on the audience," Bernthal also mentioned in the interview. "I was given the opportunity to play a character who did truly dispicable and awful things but did it for reasons that he really believed in and that he thought were lofty."
Shane was definitely a polarizing character at the start of The Walking Dead. Later, he ran out of most defenders late in season 2 when the character simply lost his mind and tried to kill Rick multiple times.
Fans clearly remember those early days of The Walking Dead, but I think everyone forgets just how big of a risk in a lot of ways The Walking Dead was. Sure, it became the biggest show on TV for a time, but it started in the woods of Georgia with a very small budget, a bold vision, and a lot of heart. Bernthal gave a lot of that credit for the vision and the heart to Frank Darabont, who was the showrunnner for the early days of The Walking Dead.
"You know, there was a humility to that show when it first started," Bernthal continued. "You know, Frank always said, 'If you're out in the woods and you're playing the zombie apocalypse, if one person isn't taking it 100% serious, the whole thing sort of disappears.
"And we really had that attitude about us. You know, there were no trailers. There was no craft services. We ate our lunch in the woods. There were snakes. There were ticks. There were huge accidents. It was a no-frill situation. Everyone was there because they believed in that script so much, and they believe in Frank so much."
It’s so interesting to me, though, just how iconic Bernthal’s performance was and just how impactful it is for fans of The Walking Dead almost 15 years after he left the series. It's so hard to imagine another actor playing Shane.
As Bernthal mentioned, the character was hated in a lot of ways, but he was such a big, important part of the story. Yes, we have the outward threat of the zombie apocalypse, but Shane was the wolf already inside the camp. You knew from the second we knew what was going down with Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) that it was never going to go work out with Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln). Shane is a huge part of the emotional journey in the early seasons.
Shane was one of the show's first examples of someone who had the skills and instincts to actually survive the apocalypse, you know? He was great with weapons. His sense of self-preservation was stronger than basically any other character. He knew what needed to be done to stay alive. Emotionally, Shane did not have the tools to survive, though. We knew this character was headed for the grave sooner rather than later.
"I was so grateful for it in every way," Bernthal finished. "And I know there is no way I would ever be able to be doing what I'm doing if it wasn't for The Walking Dead and if it wasn't for Frank Darabont."
I think we'd all know who Bernthal was in time without Shane. He's that talented of a performer. I don't know if the reverse is true, though. I strongly believe that Shane, and the way Bernthal played Shane, was one of the big reasons the early seasons of The Walking Dead were so successful.
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