Jon Bernthal's performance in HBO's We Own This City proves how much variety the actor can find in a specific character type. His best-known roles convey varying shades of masculinity -- and as Sergeant Wayne Jenkins, Bernthal manages to capture just how toxic masculinity can be. Armed with the full authority of a corrupt police institution, Bernthal's portrayal of Jenkins compliments his past performances in works like The Punisher. But unlike the morally complicated Frank Castle, there is little debate about the morality of Jenkins' actions.
We Own This City's first two episodes bounce around a timeline that shows the rise and fall of Jenkins' career as he leads the severely corrupt Gun Trace Task Force. Under his direction, the GTTF turned a portion of the police department into its own organized crime unit. There is much that is reprehensible about the character, but what Bernthal does best is depict toxic masculinity -- an issue that's been seen more and more on TV, including on HBO's own Our Flag Means Death.
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Bernthal's performance imbues that familiar swagger with the confidence of an aggressive figure comfortable with wielding his power openly. Rather than over-playing that aggression into wild outbursts of unrestrained violence, Jenkins restrains himself to focused shows of force. He shatters the bottle of a civilian on the street with his billy club or unflinchingly stares his superiors in the eye when they challenge him. He does not throw massive tantrums like in other depictions of toxic masculinity, but instead holds onto his rage and lets it feed his ego.
Conveying such confident masculinity with his posture, voice and mannerisms is nothing new for Bernthal. The criminals he portrayed in The Accountant, Baby Driver and The Wolf of Wall Street had the same violent and challenging demeanor. Other roles, be they in the realm of high-octane racing like Ford v Ferrari or high-class sports as in the questionable King Richard, had him displaying the same need for dominance with far softer edges.
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Bernthal's most similar role is his perfectly cast work as Frank Castle, the hero of The Punisher, who straddled the line between good and evil in his campaign against the same sorts of criminals Bernthal has portrayed elsewhere. Castle and Jenkins share the same physicality drawing from their militaristic backgrounds, and yet Bernthal adds subtleties to both performances that create stark distinctions between the two characters. Castle proves stoically above sinking to the level of those who challenge him, but Jenkins' sneers and scoffs and constant vulgarities betray the petty man he is at his core in nearly every scene.
With We Own This City still ongoing, fans can eagerly anticipate what new shades of masculinity Jon Bernthal can detail in the rest of the season as Jenkins' downfall continues. The actor has proven that he can take one character type and show just how complicated that type can be. In his performance as Wayne Jenkins, Bernthal offers the best depiction of toxic masculinity that TV has seen.
We Own This City airs Mondays at 9:00 p.m. on HBO.