Jon Bernthal’s Audition Gone Wrong for Chazz Palminteri Almost Got Him Arrested

Jon Bernthal is an actor who is so dedicated to audition prep that it once landed him in the back of a police car. (And no, he didn’t get the part.) Years later, he says the heart of his craft lies in preparation, whether that happens before walking into an audition or before walking onto a set.  

How did you first get your SAG-AFTRA card?

I got my AFTRA Card on the set of “Guiding Light.” I had no money and I didn’t want to get it, because I knew I couldn’t pay my dues. They were hunting me down. I do remember going into Poppy Montgomery’s trailer thinking it was the hair and makeup trailer, because I had no idea how to be on a set with trailers. I walked in while she was changing, and she threw a shoe at my head.

What advice would you give your younger self?

To not worry about getting in the right rooms and only worry about what you’re going to do when you get in there. The hard work and the fight and the grind is the job. It’s really easy for young actors to get confused and to think it’s all about contacts and connections. You can waste time building out the business end of this business. So much of the business end is pretty abstract and intangible. When I have moments when I’m harping on the business end of it, I feel hollow and a bit wayward. Concentrating on the art is always time well spent. 

What is your worst audition horror story?

There were many times where the day before an audition they would tell you to prepare 20 pages, and when you get there, they would tell you they only want to look at two. One time I got kicked off the Sony lot because I prepared 20 and I was like, “You’re going to see all 20.” You have to have a sense of dignity about what you’re doing. That’s your opportunity to be an artist that day. That’s your opportunity to share your version of the character, and you’ve got to be adamant that you get to do that on your terms. 

What’s the wildest thing you ever did to get a role?

I used to go to auditions three, four hours before. I was auditioning for a show about this street fighter from Philadelphia. Chazz Palminteri was directing and was having me at his house for the audition. I got there about four hours early, and I was walking around his residential neighborhood in character, doing movement exercises. When it was time to get ready, I called my mom and said, “Hey, Ma, this is the day that it all happens for me.” I was so confident. As I was walking up to the house, four police cars pulled up, they draw guns on me, and they told me to get on the ground. The next thing I knew, I was handcuffed and in the back of a police car outside of Chazz Palminteri’s house. The casting director pulled up and I started banging my head against the window trying to get her attention. Finally, she came over and I explained I was an actor and I was auditioning. People had been reporting that there was a guy in a skull cap walking around the neighborhood talking to himself and moving crazily. I guess I was hanging out at a school and I didn’t realize it, and they thought I was a dangerous person. The casting director got me out of the police car and we got inside, and she said, “You’ve got to tell Chazz what happened; he’s going to love it.” 

What performance should every actor see and why?

You can see videos of old plays that happened in New York. A production of “Burn This” with John Malkovich is one that I go back to over and over again. Somebody who was there at the theater that day said that when he walked out onto the stage in the audience, you were afraid to breathe. I always come back to that specific performance and that specific play and that idea of making people afraid to breathe around you.