There are very few Hollywood stars at the moment who deliver strikingly poignant acting performances quite like Jon Bernthal. The actor is one of the most emotive performers you’ll probably ever see on screen, with his every step, facial expression, and speech conveying a clear-cut message. His range is also remarkable, starring in an array of genres: from Drew Goddard’s Daredevil to Hulu’s The Bear.
Bernthal’s big break came in 2010 when he starred as Shane Walsh in AMC’s The Walking Dead. While he didn’t last in the series nearly as long as his other colleagues that debuted alongside him, his character is still heralded as one of the best in the entire show. Afterwards, he got cast in films like Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street, Fury, Sicario, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, as well as shows like We Own This City, The Punisher, reprising his Frank Castle role from Daredevil, and most recently, American Gigolo.
Now, Bernthal boasts a very healthy filmography under his belt, and we’ve helped sort through it, ranking his best movies and TV shows, from least to best.
10. The Accountant
Written by Bill Dubuque and directed by Gavin O’Connor — also responsible for Warrior, Miracle and The Way Back — The Accountant is an action-thriller that follows a certified public accountant with high-functioning autism named Christian Wolff. Wolff specializes in uncooking the books of criminal and terrorist organizations who are experiencing embezzlement. Wolff is played by Ben Affleck, and he appears alongside notable names like Anna Kendrick, J. K. Simmons, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Jeffrey Tambor, and Bernthal, who plays Christian’s brother.
9. Rampart
In the late 1990s, more than 70 police officers from the anti-gang unit Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums (CRASH) were implicated in a notorious scandal. Oren Moverman’s Rampart is based on this scandal. Woody Harrelson takes on the lead role as a corrupt Los Angeles Police Department Officer named Ned Beatty, and is joined by other actors including: Ben Foster, Anne Heche, Ice Cube, Cynthia Nixon, and Bernthal who plays a supporting role as Dan Morone. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and has since been met with positive reviews.
8. The Punisher
In this spin-off from the first Marvel Netflix series Daredevil, Bernthal reprises his role as Frank Castle, a vigilante who uses lethal methods to fight crime. Here, after avenging the death of his family members, he uncovers a larger conspiracy beyond what was done to him and his family. He delivers a characteristically good performance which continues to cement his fame among comic book lovers, brilliantly conveying the rampage, love, trauma and other complex emotions that Frank Castle embodied.
7. Daredevil
Netflix’s first Marvel series follows the story of the show’s main protagonist Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer who leads a double life as the vigilante Daredevil. Bernthal joins the show in the second season as the brilliant but troubled antagonist Frank Castle. Daredevil cast other names like Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Toby Leonard Moore, Ayelet Zurer, Rosario Dawson, and Vincent D’Onofrio.
6. Fury
David Ayer’s war film Fury stars Brad Pitt in the lead role as Don “Wardaddy” Collier, as well as Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Peña, and Bernthal — who plays a cunning and vicious character called Grady “Coon-Ass” Travis. The film follows a US tank crew fighting in Germany during the final weeks of the European theater of World War II. Fury was a financial success, and earned positive reviews for its immersive experience, acting performances, and editing.
5. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is a 2015 comedy-drama film directed by Emmy-nominated director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon and written by Jesse Andrews. The film, which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival to a standing ovation, follows Greg Gaines — a recluse who spends most of his time with co-worker Earl — a student at Pittsburgh’s Schenley High School who befriends Rachel Kushner, a fellow student after she was diagnosed with cancer. In this enthralling drama, Bernthal plays Mr. McCarthy, a teacher at Pittsburgh’s Schenley High School.
4. The Peanut Falcon Girl
Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz’s directorial debut is a 2019 comedy-drama film that follows a young man who has Down syndrome, who escapes from an assisted living facility and befriends a fisherman who is on the run. It stars Zack Gottsagen, Shia LaBeouf, Dakota Johnson, John Hawkes, Bruce Dern, and Jon Bernthal. The film was a success critically and commercially quadrupling its $6 million budget, making it the highest grossing independent film in the year of its release.
3. The Wolf of Wall Street
This epic biographical black-comedy crime film directed by Martin Scorsese is one of the most famous, successful movies of the 2010s. The 2013 film follows Leonardo Di Caprio’s character Jordan Belfort, a stockbroker in New York City, who, along with his firm, Stratton Oakmont, engaged in rampant corruption and fraud on Wall Street. Here, Bernthal is a friend of Belfort, a drug dealer named Brad Bodrick. The Wolf of Wall Street received countless accolades, scoring five Academy Awards nominations, four BAFTA nominations, and two Golden Globe Awards.
2. The Walking Dead
Jon Bernthal’s breakthrough role came in AMC’s post-apocalyptic horror drama The Walking Dead, playing Shane Walsh. He appeared in 20 episodes, excellently forming an exciting on-screen partnership with the main character of the show Rick Grimes, before later sparking an intense rivalry with Grimes. Other names in the show include Sarah Wayne Callies, Steven Yeun, Jeffrey DeMunn, Chandler Riggs, Chad L. Coleman, and many others.
1. King Richard
In this biographical sports drama film directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green and written by Zach Baylin, Bernthal takes on the role of Rick Macci, a former tennis player and Hall of Famer who was most famous for helping out in coaching famous tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams. King Richard received much praise, earning widespread acclaim for the performances of its lead stars Will Smith and Anjuanue Ellis, and scoring numerous awards and nominations, most notably six nominations at the 94th Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
