ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What drew you to this part?
JON BERNTHAL:I was a big fan of the first season.
I love the way the first season attacks the comic world and it did it with authenticity.
Credit: Patrick Harbron/Netflix
And obviously this is a character thats resonated for a long time.
Its an important character, its one Im honored to play.
How do you see Frank Castle?
Hes a guy who brought the war home with him [in] the worst possible way.
Its interesting to find this guy at the point we find him.
You want an evolution and a process.
He starts in one place and will end up in another.
What were some of the choices you made as an actor to bring him to life?
The training and physicality is extremely important in whatever I do.
Luckily I know guys in the military branch he was in.
I trained with them and trained a lot with weapons.
But with Frank, what was important was the emptiness inside him.
Hes dealing with this unbelievable loss.
Theres unbelievable anger and hatred and shame.
I had to put myself in as dark of place as possible the last six months.
What toll did that take?
Especially at the beginning, what was powerful was a lot of isolation.
Whether its successful or not remains to be seen.
Its a very physical role, whats the most challenging thing about that?
Theyre putting movie-quality fights not just the intricacies and physicality, but theres an emotional story behind every fight.
What they accomplish is staggering.
As this character develops into what he becomes, he becomes more violent and more raw.
Ive seen the first two episodes.
Youre going to have a lot of viewers rooting for you to kill these people.
How do you feel about that?
One of the things Im most excited for is Im hoping the audience will go back and forth.
And thats what I want.
I think thats the nature of the character.
This is a guy who pushes the envelope.
Hes brutal, but hes coming from a place of unbelievable hurt.
And the best thing about the character is he just doesnt care.
Its a highly personal mission hes on and if he offends you, its completely unimportant to him.
Superheroes tend to not have guns, your guy uses a gun.
And its really important that what I do and what I say might not be a characterss true feeling.
You said the character evolves in the first season, can you give us some sense of that?
Obviously secrecy is key to Marvel.
The effect the other characters have on him will push him certain directions.
I think once you see these characters collide, its tremendously interesting and emotionally gripping as well.
Its going to be a special season.
If you thought last season ofDaredevilwas dark, were going to a whole new place.
Are you still watchingThe Walking Dead?
Those guys are and always will be family to me.
Im always rooting for them and behind them.
But Ive had an extremely busy year and really behind a little behind.
Daredevil returns March 18.
