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Jon Bernthal was once fearful of Taking on ‘The Punisher’ Role

There was a point and time when our favorite The Walking Dead antagonist, Jon Bernthal, found the idea of taking on the role of Frank Castle to be terrifying.

In a recent interview with Variety, Bernthal stated that he was completely unsure that he ever wanted to be a superhero or even be a part of universe.

“Fully candid, being part of a superhero franchise was not something that I really had an ambition towards; it wasn’t really on my radar. A lot of the people that I really admire, actors that I really look up to have avoided that whole thing. He didn’t have any super (powers); he didn’t have a mask. He was a grieving father and husband who was reeling from this unbelievably traumatic event. There was something about that that scared the you-know-what out of me and left me intrigued.”

Frank Castle certainly has a very tangled web of a traumatic back story, and one that would certainly be extremely hard to deal with… or even portray as an actor:

“I always try to gravitate to stuff that scares me.  I love my wife and my kids more than myself. I’d willingly give my life for them. Until you understand love like that, you can understand what it would be like to lose it. Just that kernel of an idea, it scared me.”

Jon Bernthal certainly does an excellent job at tugging on your heartstrings in this role, as we really do feel pain seeing his character go through this emotional roller coaster.

“I’m not interested in making him likable. I’m not interested in making him relatable. If there was any back-and-forth with me with the powers that be on my show that’s where the crux of any argument lay, in saying let’s say bold. He’s a guy who’s living in darkness. He’s not trying to win people over.”

 

You can now view Marvel’s The Punisher on Netflix.

 

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