Jon Bernthal dropped First Man role due to daughter’s coma

Jon Bernthal lost out on starring alongside Ryan Gosling in ‘First Man’ after his daughter went into a coma.
The ‘Baby Driver’ actor was set to play astronaut Dave Scott alongside the 38-year-old star, who took on the role of Neil Armstrong in the retelling of the 1969 Apollo 11 mission to the moon, but he was forced to rush to two-year-old Adeline’s beside after she became extremely poorly with the viral infection encephalitis, a rare condition that causes inflammation of the brain, which caused his little girl to suffer seizures.
Thankfully Adeline recovered from the potentially life-threatening virus, but after spending three days in a coma, she didn’t recognise who her family was when she woke up for the first time.
The 42-year-old star wouldn’t have been able to get through the scary ordeal without the support of his wife Erin Angle – with whom he also has sons Henry, seven, and five-year-old Billy – and said his spouse, who is a nurse herself, showed such "courage" and "beauty" in such a terrifying time for their family.
He told Men’s Health magazine: "[She was] pouring love into our daughter every step of the way.
"People talk about bravery like fake macho bravery, but my wife didn’t flinch. What I saw in my wife was courage and beauty unlike I’d ever seen."
The role of Dave in ‘First Man’ ended up going to Christopher Abbott after Jon pulled out prior to production commencing in November, 2017.
Jon’s next role sees him play Ford executive Lee Iacocca in the ‘Ford v. Ferrari’ biopic, but he admits he almost turned it down because it was so close to filming for the second season of Netflix show ‘The Punisher’.
He told the publication: "One of my best friends, Sean Carrigan, came to set after my first week, and he saw how I was and he said, ‘Hey, man, don’t forget who the f**k you are’.
‘"You’re Henry Bernthal’s father, you’re Billy Bernthal’s father, you’re Adeline Bernthal’s father. You are who you are, and you’re what you’ve been through. Do not let this f**k you up.’ I came back the next Monday a different man."