SFX.co.uk Interview Jon Bernthal

SFX.co.uk got a chance to briefly sit down with Jon Bernthal.  In the interview they talk about Shane still being alive in Season 2, the extremity and gore that is shown in the First Season, and some other things:

SFX: Shane’s a fascinating character – maybe the most interesting one in the series – because you keep changing your mind about how you feel about him as you see different sides of him. Is that really interesting to play?
“Aw, man! Well look, I really appreciate you saying that, brother. When Frank [Darabont] and I started this whole process off together in our initial meetings, that was really our entire goal. With Frank Darabont I don’t think he ever writes characters that are completely good or completely bad. Even if you look at Andrew Lincoln’s character, Rick, he’s really a flawed guy – he’s making mistakes, he’s screwing things up, he’s not just this shining hero. I guess at the end of the day what’s really interesting about this zombie series is that it’s very human, and these characters are all flawed. With Shane, in the comic book he’s very much this one-dimensional guy, but we really, really wanted to change the audience’s mind. We wanted them literally from episode to episode – and sometimes within episodes – to change their mind about this guy, and to realise that nobody does anything with malicious intent but y’know, it’s the zombie apocalypse and it’s really high stakes! It would be too simple to say that this guy’s a bad guy for scheming on another man’s wife. I think it’s way, way more complicated than that, and I’m really happy that people in the audience have had that experience, that they feel they’ve changed their opinion on Shane. It means a lot to me, because that’s exactly what Frank and I set out to do. So the answer to your question is yes, man! That’s fascinating territory to be in and I love playing in it – I really do consider it an honour.

SFX: Has it surprised you how far the series has gone with the extremity of the gore and the violence? It’s pretty strong for a TV show!
“I know, and there were a lot of times where Andy [Lincoln] and I, we’d be on set and would see what was going on right in front of us and we’d just turn to each other and say, ‘There’s no way that is getting on TV!’ And nothing got pulled, they didn’t hold anything back, and I think it’s a real credit to our showrunners, and a real credit to the network. They’ve been committed to Frank and Robert in terms of letting this be the kind of show that they wanna make, and I think it’s really rare in American TV and they ought to be applauded for it. The show pulls no punches. And you can’t do a Walking Dead Lite – you can’t do a version of this show that’s not completely gory. You can’t hold back on this show.

To read the entire interview click here!

-Dane

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