Jon Bernthal, who starred in the earliest seasons of The Walking Dead, looks back to the cast’s absolute commitment to surviving a zombie apocalypse.

Jon Bernthal Shane The Walking Dead

Actor Jon Bernthal has some powerful memories about starring in the early seasons of AMC’s The Walking Dead, and how the entire cast’s commitment to their roles turned the post-apocalyptic series into a surprise cultural phenomenon.

In an interview with Joe Rogan, Bernthal looked back to Season 1 of The Walking Dead, in which he played the aggressive survivor Shane Walsh. “You know, when The Walking Dead started…it was like, a bunch of us in the fucking woods,” he said, explaining how the network didn’t apparently expect much from the show and gave it a limited budget. However, Bernthal continued, showrunner Frank Darabont and the cast fully believed in the project. “….And the thing that’s crazy about like, a zombie show, and about living in a different world like that, there are rules, right? So if you put a bunch of actors in the woods, and you have six people walking through the woods, and if you make any noise, the zombies could come… If one person isn’t fully committed… the reality of that world is totally screwed.”

Bernthal went on to describe the “intentionality” of the show’s starting cast, saying, “It was sort of like this perfect storm of people that were young, and hungry, and committed… there was no like, going to bars or restaurants.” He and the other actors shared a determination to make the most of their opportunity: “[There] was really, really — gratitude. ‘We’re so lucky to be here. Let’s make this.'”

How The Walking Dead Took Over the World

Based on the comic of the same name by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard, The Walking Dead is set in a world ravaged by a zombie outbreak and follows various characters in an ever-changing cast. The show continued to grow in viewership and popularity, and recently completed its eleventh and final season. It’s also launched multiple spinoffs, the first being Fear the Walking Dead, and collected awards of many kinds.

After Season 1, Darabont left the show, and following the story of the source comics, Bernthal’s character Shane was killed at the end of Season 2 after becoming the enemy of the other survivors. Bernthal later became known for his role as Marvel’s Frank Castle, who first appeared in Season 2 of Daredevil on Netflix and then became the central protagonist of its spinoff series, The Punisher.

The Walking Dead Season 11 is now available to watch via AMC+, and will soon join the previous seasons on Netflix.

Source: YouTube