“Should’ve won a long time ago”: Jon Bernthal Deserved His First Emmy Atleast 7 Years Ago Before He Wins One For Guest Appearance in The Bear

Jon Bernthal is one of those actors who possess the ability to grab your attention the moment they walk onto the screen. The actor brings a certain no-nonsense intensity to his roles which has his fans in a chokehold. Having been in the industry for a little over two decades now, Jon Bernthal has brought Hollywood down to its knees countless times.

Jon Bernthal in and as The Punisher | Credits: Marvel Television

Not only has he been phenomenal in films like The Wolf of Wall Street and Fury, but he has also taken the television industry by storm. Now, he is finally getting the recognition that has been long overdue – a Primetime Creative Arts Emmy for his work in The Bear. However, fans believe that this shouldn’t have been the only Emmy in his cupboard.

Jon Bernthal Finally Has an Emmy in His Hand

Jon Bernthal as Mikey in The Bear | Credits: FXP

Jon Bernthal played the recurring role of Mikey in The Bear, Carmy and Natalie’s late brother. He was in the Hulu comedy series for a total of five episodes but they were enough to basically steal the spotlight. It’s Bernthal after all.

The actor has been awarded under the Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series category for his work in the sixth episode of season two, Fishes. The episode alone has a 9.6/10 rating on IMDb and Bernthal was absolutely incredible in it as an intense and chaotic Christmas dinner unfolded right before our eyes.

Unfortunately, he was not available at the ceremony which took place on September 08 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California. The Bear was nominated a total of 14 times, out of which it won 7 awards.

Bernthal emerged victorious over Only Murders in the Building’s Matthew Broderick, Saturday Night Live’s Ryan Gosling, and Hacks’ Christopher Lloyd. The Bear’s Bob Odenkirk and Will Poulter were also nominated in the same category.

He once discussed his role in the comedy series with The Hollywood Reporter. Bernthal talked about how he realized he was supposed to show the damaged side of his character as opposed to what he initially thought.

I understood that what [creator] Chris Storer needed from that version of Mikey was this larger-than-life, charismatic guy, in the way that we sometimes glorify and romanticize folks that we’ve lost…

When season 2 came around and I actually got to go to Chicago and be part of the set, I saw that we needed the other side of Mikey. We needed to see the damage and the ugliness, to see him spiraling. It was such a cool exercise for me as an actor to be able to plant these buoys in the water about who he is and why he has this resonance over his family, even though he could be really ugly at times.

Bernthal was absolutely flawless in the series even though he only showed up for a handful of episodes. All in all, it is a well-deserving win.

Jon Bernthal’s Emmy was Long Overdue

A still from The Walking Dead | Credits: AMC Studios

While we are extremely happy for Bernthal, we cannot help but look back on his wide portfolio which has us convinced that the actor deserved one of these Emmys years before The Bear even came around.

Since the We Own This City actor has been in the industry for a couple of decades, he has been delivering award-worthy work for decades. Unfortunately, an Emmy was not in his fate until now.

While his fans are elated to see him win, they cannot help but reminisce about all the times when he could have and should have won an Emmy. Take a look at their reactions to Bernthal’s win:

As fans pointed out, the actor’s performance as Shane in The Walking Dead and Frank Castle/Punisher in Daredevil and Punisher was worth getting a shot at the Emmys. Both characters were so well-presented by Bernthal that they stuck with the audience even after all these years.  

Jon Bernthal in We Own This City | Credits: HBO

Another contender in the list is the more recent miniseries, We Own This City, where Bernthal played the role of Wayne Jenkins. We find it quite difficult to believe that he didn’t even get a nomination for his chilling yet captivating performance as the corrupt police officer.

Well, there is no point in crying over spilled milk, is there? We are just glad Bernthal finally got the recognition he deserved.

The Bear is available to watch on Hulu.