Jon Bernthal: King of Short, But Lasting Performances

While Jon Bernthal is best known for his show-stopping performance as Frank Castle and memorable Shane Walsh, Bernthal also is known for something else. If you go digging through the talented actor’s career, you can find that he is pretty much the king of showing up in a film for a very short period of time and usually dying, but delivering a great show during his brief time on screen. With the movie Widows premiering November 16 of this year, we already know Bernthal’s character isn’t going to last long. The premise of the film is about the widows of several bank robbers, taking up the mantle after their husbands die.

With another short role for the books, let’s honorably mention some of the best, but short Jon Bernthal performances:

Sicario

In the first Sicario film, Emily Blunt plays an FBI agent working on apprehending a very important figure in the Mexican Cartel. At one point in the movie, she encounters Jon Bernthal’s character, Ted. At first, he is simply a policeman who Emily Blunt’s character is attempting to be intimate with. Quickly, she discovers he is working for the cartel and a fight soon ensues. Though Ted was only on screen for a few minutes, he still was swoon-worthy in that you originally thought he and Blunt’s character Kate had great chemistry. The small fight scene was great and we even had some insight into Ted’s motives during his interrogation scene with Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro’s characters.

Baby Driver

This action-packed movie gives Guardians of the Galaxy’s soundtrack a run for its money. Possibly one of the best high-energy movies of 2017, Baby Driver is a fun, energetic film with Ansel Elgort, Lily James, Jon Hamm, Eiza Gonzalez, and Jamie Foxx. Jon Bernthal plays Griff, a robber in the beginning of the movie who assists Hamm and Gonzalez in the heist. After the robbery is complete, we only have a few moments with Griff as he attempts to unnerve and figure out Elgort’s character. Essentially, he ends up setting the tone for the movie, promising Baby that he’s going to eventually have to get his hands dirty. Our last scene with Griff is him cryptically explaining that if he isn’t seen again, he’s dead. And we never see him again.

Shot Caller

Though this film didn’t get a lot of attention at all, this crime drama really is a must see. Centering around Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister from Game of Thrones), he plays Jacob Harlon, a successful businessman who seemingly has it all. After a drunk driving accident kills his best friend, he is sentenced to prison where he does not make friends and ends up doing more time than he was originally meant to. Bernthal plays Frank “Shotgun” and although his character could easily be viewed as unlikable, he regardless gives an unforgettable performance. Seeing Shotgun transform from a confident veteran in the game, to a paranoid, unsure civilian who is working with the police due to being blackmailed, I personally felt a tinge of sympathy for him. In the end, Jacob catches wind and does not allow Shotgun to continue living, in a tense fight between them that ends in Shotgun’s death.

Wolf of Wall Street

Everyone knows the Wolf of Wall Street. It was the film that many believed would land Leonardo DiCaprio an Oscar (it wasn’t) and was the same movie that showed everyone that Martin Scorcese didn’t need to stick to his usual format in order to deliver a great piece of cinematography. You may not have realized that Jon Bernthal was in this, as Brad. Iconically a scumbag, Brad was tanned to death with hilarious facial hair. He was the one that Leonardo’s character wanted to recruit the most and was what really helped catapult the business to what it was. After Brad rightfully told Jonah Hill’s character off, he ended up in jail and then retiring from the game. Even though he was given a happy sendoff, we’re informed by the voiceover that Brad died two years later from a heart attack.

Wind River

If you’re a Jon Bernthal fan like me, you probably can agree with me that his role in Wind River was the most heartbreaking short performance from the actor. Though he at most was in the movie for five minutes, his part was probably the most unforgettable. Wind River was about a murder of a young woman on a Native American reservation in Wyoming. Originally, we think that maybe the woman’s boyfriend Matt (Bernthal) was the culprit; his character hadn’t been seen in days and was significantly younger than the girl. At the end of the movie, we are given a flashback that showcases how much Matt adored his girlfriend. They were so happy, planning how and where they were going to start their new lives. Unfortunately, Matt had some really evil roommates who drunkenly come in, demeaning the woman for being Native American and wanting to be intimate with her. After Matt tries to fight them off, he is beaten and his girlfriend Natalie is raped. In a final attempt, Matt distracts the men so Natalie can run, only to run to her death. Matt’s body is also found, dead and picked apart by animals.

This list does not include the slew of award-worthy performances in movies and television shows, rather a collection of Bernthal’s shortest roles where he made the biggest impact. What movies/television shows should I have listed?