Bernthal signed up for an intro theater class thinking it was 600 kids watching movies in the back of a lecture hall. Instead it was 10 people who took it very seriously. When his turn came to share something meaningful, he had nothing — except his catcher's glove — and launched into a completely fabricated story about his mother giving it to him on her deathbed. His mom was alive and well in D.C. The whole class, including Bernthal, burst into tears. His teacher recognized something real in the chaos and changed his life forever.