Jon Bernthal

“The scary thing is—when you change, you’re ripping out a whole part of yourself, and you don’t know what goes in there. You’ve got to start filling it with other things. You’ve got to fall in love, in this business, with the not knowing. It’s a wonderful blessing of a ride if you look at it that way.

-Jon Bernthal, episode 277 of Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

This week we’re joined by actor Jon Bernthal! To begin, we discuss his latest performance on HBO’s We Own This City (6:00), policing and gun culture in America (9:15), growing up grappling with toxic masculinity (14:47), his pivot to acting in college (23:30), and the powerful history of theater in Moscow (27:25). 

On the back-half, he reflects on his first year in Los Angeles (32:45), the night that changed his life (37:44), and the magic behind the making of Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street (45:05). To close, Jon shares his hopes for the future (51:00) and how, as a father, he’s processed these tragic weeks in America (52:58).

Illustrations by: Krishna Shenoi.

Subscribe, rate, and review: Apple Podcasts and Spotify.