Jon Bernthal is a huge star on the small and big screen, but there is no role he is prouder of than being a dad.
The actor, who returns as The Punisher alongside Tom Holland in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, is a proud father of three children he shares with his wife of almost six years, Erin Angle.
Jon's kids are following in his footsteps: his two sons have inherited his athletic prowess, and his pre-teen daughter is a star in the making.
But no matter what his children end up doing in life, Jon is happy as long as they put their all into it. "Whatever they do in this world, I'm okay with it, as long as they go full bore," he told Men's Health in 2018.
© Instagram"That's the real challenge of fatherhood, to try to divorce yourself from your own [expletive] and to realize I want these kids to be better than me. I don't want them to make the same mistakes I did."
Find out more about Jon's kids and his wife below.
© InstagramJon and his son Henry both love boxing
Henry Bernthal, 15
Henry is the eldest of Jon and Erin's children, born in 2011. Like his dad, Henry has developed a passion for boxing, and it is a sport that has bonded father and son. The teenager was also enrolled in jiu-jitsu classes when he was younger.
As Henry has grown, Jon admitted in an interview with The Times that he struggles to see his son become more independent. "He's doing something very natural, but it kills me," he said.
Jon also finds it difficult being away from his family for long periods when he's on set, and often shares doting messages about them on social media. In December 2024, he shared a photo of himself and Henry, writing: "My Best friend. My Battle Buddy. My heart. I love you and miss you, Henry Waylon Jennings Bernthal."
© InstagramBilly (R) is an athlete
Billy Bernthal, 13
Billy followed in his brother's and dad's footsteps by taking up jiu-jitsu and has been in classes since he was just two years old. While boxing doesn't appear to be his thing, he is a starting quarterback and basketball player, and his proud dad often shares videos of Billy at his games on social media.
Jon revealed in 2018 that Billy is fearless. "That kid isn't afraid of anything. He's going to have to learn things on his own," he told Esquire. Jon also revealed that he wants both his sons to be kind. "I want them to see kindness as masculine, not a sign of weakness," he added.
© Getty ImagesAddie starred alongside Jon in The Punisher: One Last Kill
Adeline Bernthal, 11
Jon became a girl dad in 2015 when he and Erin welcomed their daughter, Adeline, known as Addie.
Addie had a traumatic experience when she was just two years old, slipping into a coma for three days after suffering a seizure. She was later diagnosed with encephalitis, a viral or bacterial infection that causes inflammation of the brain, according to the Mayo Clinic. Jon left his role in 2018's First Man to be with his daughter.
Speaking about the experience, Jon praised his wife for pouring "love into our daughter every step of the way" of her recovery. "People talk about bravery like fake macho bravery, but my wife didn't flinch," he told Men’s Health in 2018. "What I saw in my wife was courage and beauty unlike I'd ever seen."
Addie seems to have developed a love for acting like her dad, and they have even shared the screen. The youngest appeared alongside Jon in the 2021 film, Small Engine Repair, and she played his on-screen daughter, Lisa, in the Disney+ spin-off The Punisher: One Last Kill, for which she was paid $5,191.20 for five days' work, according to TMZ.
© Getty ImagesErin and Jon married in 2020 after 10 years of dating
Meet Jon's wife, Erin
Jon and Erin dated for 10 years before they married after they met at a party in Washington, D.C., and the actor was instantly smitten. "I came over and was just rudely messing around, and I know this is the corniest thing in the world, but when I actually saw Erin, it was literally like angels were singing," he told Men's Health. "I had never seen anyone so beautiful."
Erin worked as a trauma nurse at Georgetown University Hospital when she met Jon, after earning her nursing degree in 1998. 10 years later, she earned her Master of Science in anesthesiology, according to her LinkedIn.
She followed Jon to Boston, then Los Angeles, before they embarked on a brief long-distance romance when she moved to San Francisco.
They married in Potomac, Md, in September 2020.
© InstagramJon and Erin's relationship was saved by Willie Nelson
How Willie Nelson reunited Jon and his wife after a breakup
Jon revealed that he and Erin split before they married after he "did a bunch of dumb stuff," but it was country legend Willie Nelson who helped bring them back together.
"I snuck backstage. I found this beautiful postcard and wrote Willie this long letter and rolled him a beautiful joint and told him the situation with me and my woman," he recalled to Men's Health. "I told him she's a good-hearted woman in love with a good-timin' man, and I asked him to play this one song 'Always on My Mind' for us, and he did."
The dedication worked, and in 2018, Jon and Erin were joined by their three kids at another Willie concert. "I turned to [the kids] and said, 'Hey, guys, this is Willie Nelson, and he's real important to your mama,'" he said. "I'm sitting there at the show with my kids and thinking, 'This is the best moment of my life. This is peace.'"
