Los Angeles: Actor Jon Bernthal won his first Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series at the 2024 Creative Arts Emmys for his role in 'The Bear' on Sunday.
Though Bernthal was not present at the ceremony, the actor beat out his fellow 'The Bear' guest stars Bob Odenkirk and Will Poulter, as well as Matthew Broderick (Only Murders in the Building), Ryan Gosling (Saturday Night Live), and Christopher Lloyd (Hacks) to claim the honor, as per People.
Bernthal, 47, first appeared as Mikey Berzatto in season 1 of The Bear, but it was his powerful return in season 2, episode 6, titled "Fishes," that earned him the award. This episode showed the chaotic Berzatto family holiday gathering, where Bernthal's character, Mikey, played a central role. The episode also featured Jamie Lee Curtis, who won Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Donna Berzatto, Mikey's mother.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in August, Bernthal opened up on playing Mikey Berzatto.
"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, we want to see this version of him -- his winning smile and ability to take over a room with his energy," he said.
"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," he said.
Although Bernthal took home the prize, the other nominees also gave outstanding performances in their respective shows. Bob Odenkirk, who played Uncle Lee in The Bear, called guest starring on the series "the greatest experience since" filming Better Call Saul.
—ANI