10 Years Before The Punisher, Jon Bernthal’s First TV Role Was Nothing Like You’d Expect

Jon Bernthal has a type, at least in the characters he plays. Whether portraying a corrupt cop, mobster, vigilante, or con man, the actor often brings his signature brash sensibility to these men who straddle the line between good and evil. And The Punisher star will be the first to admit he has struggled with the same angry tendencies as his on-screen counterparts.

At nearly 50 years old, he has hit a professional peak — starring in Hulu, Netflix, and Disney+ originals, making his Broadway debut, and joining Tom Holland in the summer blockbusters The Odyssey and Spider-man: Brand New Day. But many fans would be shocked to know Bernthal got his start in comedy. His first starring role was as a series regular in The Class, a short-lived sitcom from Friends co-creator David Crane and his partner Jeffrey Klarik.

Jon Bernthal’s Surprising Start Was on ‘The Class’

Image via CBS

While the largely forgotten CBS sitcom premiered in 2006 and went off the air after just one season, the role provides viewers with the chance to see Bernthal in a different light. The series followed a group of former third grade classmates who reunite as adults. Bernthal played Duncan Carmello, a contractor who lives with his mom while pining for his high school girlfriend, Nicole Allen (Andrea Anders). The Class also featured future stars Lizzy Caplan, Jason Ritter, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson, actors who have continued pursuing comedy with the Now You See Me franchise, Kevin (Probably) Saves the World, and the long-running Modern Family among their later projects.

While reminiscing about the “formative” experience during a May 2026 episode of Dinner’s On Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Bernthal told his former co-star that getting the job felt like a “fluke.” Still, his character had an ease on the show flirting with Anders and serving as a foil for Ferguson’s Richie Velch, a man on the brink of suicide and fresh out of an unhappy marriage. Looking back, even Duncan showed glimpses of the Bernthal modern fans have come to expect. While he is not necessarily aggressive, Duncan is a masculine, confident, and romantically-experienced man working a blue-collar job.

The half-hour comedy was filmed as a multi-camera in front of a live studio audience. But the experience set Bernthal on a different path, explaining to Ferguson on his podcast that while the production was “magical,” he felt like an outsider ill-equipped for the format. And with a few exceptions, like guest appearances on How I Met Your Mother, Robot Chicken, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Bernthal has avoided not only the medium but the genre. Instead, he referenced other auditions from that time that aligned more with his future roles, including the World War II miniseries, The Pacific.

Despite his reservations and its eventual cancellation, The Class won “Best New Comedy” at the 2007 People’s Choice Awards. Some dedicated fans even launched an ill-fated petition to reverse The Class’ cancellation. But in today’s light, The Class has been scored somewhat harshly, only earning a 44% on Rotten Tomatoes and unable to be streamed on any service without purchasing the season outright.

Lizzy Caplan Offered Support After Jon Bernthal’s Arrest

Image via Warren Feldman/©Showtime/courtesy Everett Collection

Bernthal’s characters often share this violent streak that he had to work through himself. As if a storyline ripped from one of his movies, Bernthal faced a personal crisis a couple of years after The Class ended. During an appearance on the Howard Stern Show, the actor explained that his July 2009 arrest was the “single most important event” in his life. Bernthal recounted to the radio host that a drunk man called over Bernthal’s dog during a walk and wouldn’t initially release him. He retrieved his dog, but explained the man started following him despite protests to stop. Bernthal was arrested after knocking the man unconscious, revealing to Stern, “You know these cops are telling me, ‘If this guy doesn’t wake up, that’s it for you.’ I remember sitting there on that bench just so disgusted with myself and utterly disappointed with myself.”

Vowing to make a change, Bernthal actually found help in his former The Class co-star, Lizzy Caplan. During an appearance on Dinner’s On Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson, he revealed the Mean Girls actress reached out after the incident. She set up Bernthal with someone to talk to, who he told Ferguson was “instrumental” in helping him finally work through his anger issues. Bernthal added, “I’m forever indebted to her.”

Jon Bernthal Pursued Drama After ‘The Class’

Bernthal is hardly the first sitcom star to pursue dramatic roles. He joins the likes of Steve Carrell who dropped his Michael Scott persona in Foxcatcher, Bryan Cranston who transitioned from Malcolm in the Middle to Breaking Bad, Melissa McCarthy who earned an Oscar nomination for Can You Ever Forgive Me?, and Katey Sagal who went from nagging housewife to motorcycle matriarch. But while they all oscillate between the two genres, Bernthal has spent the years since The Class playing gun-toting, foul-mouthed men in a series of gritty dramas and action films.

The Bernthal typecast first really emerged when he took on the role of Shane Walsh in AMC’s The Walking Dead, following it up with roles like The Wolf of Wall Street, The Accountant duology, and We Own This City. But as he admitted during an appearance on Dinner’s On Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson, there has been no great strategy to his career. Not worrying about being stereotyped, Bernthal told Insider in 2017 that he tries “to make these characters as specific as possible and as unique as possible.”

Looking back on Bernthal’s turn on The Class, it would be easy to write off the experience as fairly inconsequential in becoming one of the most in-demand actors in Hollywood. How could a fairly affable character on a long-forgotten sitcom be relevant when discussing a man known for playing hyper-masculine, morally gray roles? In reality, the short-lived CBS series was just the first domino to fall. Had he not had that experience, and had it not been canceled, he may not have clarified the roles he’d be drawn to. But more than that, in that brief time he built lifelong relationships that ended up resetting the trajectory of his life. As Bernthal said, he is indebted to Caplan for helping him get the resources to overcome his anger issues, issues he can tap into for the type of men he plays. In the grand scheme of lost one-season series, The Class’ lasting legacy may just be that of Bernthal’s impressive career.