Jon Bernthal names the “most haunting” performance ever captured on film
Jon Bernthal is one of those actors who, despite not always getting his flowers, seems to steal the show in pretty much any film or TV show. With his stature, heavy angular face, and slow, deep voice, he cuts a tough and slightly terrifying figure. This, paired with his appearance in plenty of action films, can leave the impression that he’s just a muscle-bound roidhead who’s pretty badass and nothing more. But, I think anyone who’s watched The Bear (so pretty much everyone) knows that this couldn’t be further from the truth.
Playing Michael Berzatto, the troubled but charismatic catalyst for the entire show, he appears in only a handful of flashback scenes. And yet, he’s been one of the most complex and compelling characters from the beginning. His layered performance, especially in the standout episode ‘Fishes’ in season two, allowed us to see that Mikey isn’t just another tough-guy addict, but is a deeply sad, guarded and caring character who is completely ineffable to those around him. He can go from joking around to seething with anger to silently weeping in a matter of seconds; his pain and absence haunt the entire show.
It could be considered one of the most plaintive acting performances ever, so it’s interesting to find out what performances Bernthal himself finds to fit this title. “I think Ted Levine’s performance as Buffalo Bill is one of the most haunting performances that has ever happened on film,” he told Rotten Tomatoes, adding, “He’s an actor that I admire so deeply and I really love.”
While a completely different character from the one Bernthal plays in The Bear—Buffalo Bill is a serial killer after all, it’s not a shocking choice. While most would immediately go to Anthony Hopkins’ unsettling performance as Hannibal Lecter, it’s Buffalo Bill that’s truly terrifying. While Lecter is intelligent, methodical and almost serene, Bill is troubled, intense and utterly unhinged.
But Levine doesn’t get nearly as much praise for the part as he should, due to the character only being caught in snatches throughout the film. But, like Bernthal, he steals the show in many ways. Whether he’s dancing awkwardly in front of the camera wearing a human scalp as a wig or leering over the side of the well, instructing his victim to put lotion on “its” skin while clasping his tiny bichon frisé, Precious. Lecter might well be the more terrifying of the two as he’s capable of getting into his victims’ heads and making them believe his version of reality, but it’s hard not to find Bill captivating. And that’s all down to Ted Levine.
The scene where Bill holds back tears as he terrorises Catherine in The Silence of the Lambs has a similar quality to that of Mikey silently breaking into tears after a heartfelt moment with Carmen. You get a sense in both that these characters know that they are doomed and that they have brought it on themselves. Levine’s performance clearly left its mark on Bernthal.
Prior to The Bear, Bernthal had “[taken] these parts that are only in a few scenes and really create as rich a back story and history for the character as possible”. From Matt Raymond in Wind River to Mr McCarthy in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Bernthal is always able to make these kinds of characters magnetic and memorable no matter how small the part, an ability that seems to haunt him from repeatedly watching Ted Levine do just that in The Silence of the Lambs as a kid sneaking into a cinema.
