The Spotlight: Jon Bernthal says stories of his on-set method acting for 'The Punisher' have been greatly exaggerated
When you're cast as murderous vigilante Frank Castle and then tell everyone you need to stay in character for that role, people are going to have questions.
Promoting the character last year, Jon Bernthal told Jimmy Kimmel, "I'm definitely not that much fun while I'm playing this part." The clip is literally titled: Jon Bernthal Stays in Character to Play The Punisher.
Ahead of the Nov. 17 Netflix release of "The Punisher's" first season, the career tough guy is doing his best to walk those comments back a bit. Bernthal admits he likes to keep an edge, but he's not exactly sending rats in the mail.
"It just depends," Bernthal said of staying in character. "It depends on the part and what we're doing. It's not like I'm having people call me Frank off-camera or anything like that. I think it's just, in general, I prefer to not be too far away from him so it's not such a huge jump once we start. With Frank this year there's many other sides of him. We're with him a lot more and there's a lighter side that's explored.
"A lot of the holes in the wall he's built around himself, light starts to shine through. He starts to care about other people. For those scenes I *don't* need to be all isolated and in darkness, but I always want to keep it pretty close by."
Asked if his on-screen reputation affects his personal life and public persona, you get the sense Bernthal would like to branch out a bit.
"My kids aren't scared," Bernthal joked. "I wish they'd be a little more scared of me, but no. I'm attracted to the best material and the best people that are available to me. I'm a very nice, soft guy."
"The Punisher" debuts on Netflix Nov. 17.
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