Podbit · SmartLess

"Jon Bernthal"

Explore episode Jun 8, 2026

TV & Film

Riding with Baltimore SWAT: Research for We Own the City

"Jon Bernthal" · Jun 8, 2026 TV & Film

To play Wayne Jenkins in We Own the City, Bernthal rode out with Baltimore city and county SWAT teams every night for three straight months. He came in with David Simon's Wire credibility behind him — which turns out is literally required watching among Baltimore cops. What he discovered was that corrupt policing devastates not just communities and victims but also good cops, whose safety and careers are destroyed by it.

Where this was said

We Own the City and the Complexity of Wayne Jenkins

At 51:40 · chapter starts 51:00

Will says We Own the City blew him away and he can now see how Bernthal's personal history informed the performance. Bernthal sets the context: the project came to him in the wake of Freddie Gray and George Floyd, a time when Baltimore was at the tip of the spear on race and policing. He describes his revulsion at flag-wavers on both sides who've never actually been in the valleys or rubbed elbows with the other side — the only way to access empathy is to actually be there. He had David Simon's Wire credibility as a key to the city: Baltimore cops watch The Wire every year as required viewing. He spent 3 months on nightly SWAT raids with city and county teams.^{[1]

— Jon Bernthal

"To play Wayne Jenkins in We Own the City, Bernthal rode out with Baltimore city and county SWAT teams every night for three straight months…"

51:40} What he found: corrupt policing doesn't just devastate victims and communities — it destroys good cops too, terrorizing their careers and safety. And the key to Jenkins himself: everyone who knew him said the same thing. Mid-robbery, mid-false-arrest, if one of his kids needed him, he ran home. That contradiction was the whole character.

There's no access to recognizing decency in each other. There's no access for empathy. There's no access for friendship or for any level of understanding 'cause you're just staying on your mountaintop, you know, just waving your flag.

Jon Bernthal

"Jon Bernthal"

TV & Film

3 months riding with Baltimore police

"Jon Bernthal" · Jun 8, 2026

Bernthal rode out with Baltimore SWAT teams every night for 3 straight months to research his role as Wayne Jenkins in We Own the City.

TV & Film

Wayne Jenkins: most corrupt cop in Baltimore history

"Jon Bernthal" · Jun 8, 2026

Bernthal describes his character Wayne Jenkins as considered the most corrupt, most vicious, and most vile police officer in the history of Baltimore.

How do you play this guy and not just play him as a monster? How do you find some sort of— everybody who talked to him said, even if he was in the middle of robbing a drug dealer, if any of his kids needed him, he would run home immediately.

Jon Bernthal

"Jon Bernthal"

TV & Film

Finding Humanity in a Monster: Wayne Jenkins's One Redeeming Truth

"Jon Bernthal" · Jun 8, 2026 TV & Film

Bernthal knew he couldn't play Wayne Jenkins as a pure monster. He found his key when everyone who knew Jenkins told him the same thing: no matter what Jenkins was doing — robbing a drug dealer, making a false arrest — if one of his kids needed him, he would run home immediately. That contradiction, corruption coexisting with devoted fatherhood, was everything. The character isn't redeemed by it. But it makes him human.

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