00:00It just scared me, you know, really scared me. I've always believed in, you know, fundamentally
00:05that if a role scares you, something about it scares you, you got to run towards it. That's
00:11where things get really exciting. That's where you can grow. I've said before, there's no way I
00:15could even begin to try to take on a part like that if I wasn't a father and a husband
00:20first
00:20and to know fully what it would, what it's like to love people more than you love yourself,
00:24willingly give your life for them. You can't begin to imagine what it would be like if they
00:29were taken from you. And I think there is a little bit of Frank Castle in all of us.
00:32You got to run towards the fear. Hi, everybody. I'm John Bernthal. I'm here
00:35with The Hollywood Reporter. And these are some of my Hollywood firsts.
00:45I'm just a, such a huge Scorsese worshiper. When Goodfellas came into the theaters,
00:52me and my best friend, Dougie Thornell, we would go and then we would sit through another,
00:56another showing and then another showing. Then we'd go back the next day. I mean, I'm talking
01:00about maybe I saw that movie in the, in the theaters 40 or 50 times. I was just blown away
01:06by Joe Pesci, just blown away and the vitality of it and the life behind it and, and, and the
01:12storytelling and how much you could see these groups of people. They just, they all, it was
01:18just this beautiful stew of, of, of personalities and, and it was so lived in. And then, you know,
01:23to have the unbelievable opportunity and honor to, to, to go beyond one of Mr. Scorsese sets
01:29and to see that in real life and the care and the tension to detail and the, the, the ensemble
01:34building and, and just this beautiful feeling that you're there making something that's,
01:40that, that's so enormously special. And it was the honor of my lifetime to, to, to work
01:44with them. With Walking Dead, you know, such an important project for me. It's really when
01:56my life changed. I got married at the, the end of, of Walking Dead and we had our first
02:01child, um, the summer before, uh, the second season began. And, and, and, you know, with
02:08Walking Dead, I got to work with these young artists that were also raising young families.
02:13They were a little bit further along with Andy Lincoln and Sarah Wayne Callies. And
02:17I really got to see these unbelievable models, people who put their family first, but were
02:22also completely dedicated to the work. And it really was a time where I really streamlined
02:26my life to, to, to be really about these two things. But to be completely honest with
02:30you, when I read that pilot, it's not that I knew it would be big, but I didn't know that
02:35I had to be a part of it. I knew that I'd never read anything like it. I knew that
02:39I was
02:39such a huge Frank Darabont fan. And I knew that with that role specifically, you know,
02:46because originally I had, I had auditioned to play Rick, everybody did and, and, and it
02:50came down, you know, they, you know, Frank talked to me about which role I wanted to play.
02:53And I just felt in my gut, even though I know he wouldn't be there for long, I just had
02:58to
02:58play that part. I'm so grateful to Frank, uh, you know, for giving me that opportunity that,
03:03you know, people talk about the things that change your life. I don't know that I knew it at the
03:07time,
03:07but I don't think any job changed my life as much as that one did.
03:11The first time I think I was really starstruck was on Walking Dead. We went, when we went to our
03:16first Comic-Con, I saw David Hasselhoff get out of a, like an old eighties limousine and I couldn't
03:22believe it. I couldn't believe it. I was just so blown away. Like that's David Hasselhoff.
03:27I mean, so many times after that, you know, working with De Niro, who's really my, my, my hero and
03:33getting to play his son, you know, was just sort of this like meditation in, you know,
03:38just trying to be in my body and to stay calm. I just know what De Niro, you know, when
03:43I saw how
03:43he handled himself on set, I saw when we were running our lines incessantly in between scenes
03:48and how important it was to him. And, um, you know, even at this, you know, being one of our
03:54most treasured storytellers and masters of his craft, it just made me feel so good. It made me feel so
03:59much
04:00hope and made me feel a real kinship. And, and, uh, I, I just was so grateful. And I feel
04:05that way
04:05with, you know, really all of my heroes that I've gotten to work with.
04:14I love Tom. I met Tom when he was 17. You know, we, we, we worked together in Ireland. We
04:20lived right
04:20next to each other, you know, in the same hotel, we eat every meal together. At that age, I saw
04:26a young
04:27man who was raised beautifully. He was kind. He was courteous. He was daring. He was bold. He
04:33really cares about the work, really cares about the work, takes risks. Um, he's a gentleman. And
04:38I saw a drive in him and, uh, a conviction in him that was hard to recognize. I never really
04:46seen
04:46anything like it. Um, and then to sort of reunite with him now, what, you know, 12, 13 years later,
04:53um, and he's, you know, become this household name movie star with this, you know, beautiful,
04:59loving relationship and the head of this unbelievable franchise that now I get to be a
05:04part of. And, you know, we made our audition tapes together, you know, for Punisher and Spider-Man
05:09while we were in Ireland. It's beautiful to see how far he's come. I'm so proud of him. I'm so
05:14in awe
05:14of him. And I'm so grateful that we got to reconnect, do two movies back to back and, you know,
05:20and see how much he's changed and grown. But, but, but I think what makes me even happier
05:24is to see how little he's changed and to see how he's still that same good, kind, courteous,
05:29family first guy. And, uh, I think he's going to be a great dad coming off of Odyssey. I didn't
05:35think anything could strike me again in terms of scope, the level of expertise and just how
05:41intricate those sets were, how, how there was just no detail, you know, left unturned, unexplored,
05:48the level of craftsmanship in that movie was just absolutely mind boggling. I think everything
05:54with Chris, you know, from, from, from the moment I met him, you're just seeing a true
05:59master. You're seeing somebody who's doing the very thing that he has put on this earth
06:03to do. He's completely singular. It is an unbelievably freeing feeling to walk into a project and to
06:12have full, not just full, complete trust, but full and complete fidelity to the filmmaker and to know
06:19just, he will tell you to jump in in the air, how high you just follow that man, just follow
06:24that man.
06:25And that's what you're all there for. That's what everyone's there for. And you see his imagination
06:30come to life. You see people pushing themselves way beyond the bounds of, of, of, of comfort and,
06:37um, and, and, and, and safety and everyone's doing it for the same reason because they believe in this
06:42man so much and they believe in his imagination. They believe in his talent. They believe in his
06:46ability and every day blew you away. Every moment blew you away. Every moment was hard and you loved
06:51it. You wouldn't want, you wouldn't want it any other way. And, uh, the one thing I always say about
06:56that film is, um, as hard as people talk about a Nolan set is there's no one working harder than
07:02Chris. And it's so inspiring. I would follow him anywhere.
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