Life After 'Dead': Jon Bernthal Joins MCC Theater Play and Scorsese Movie When a man has lost the woman he loved, seen the near-annihilation of the human race, been stabbed to death, resurrected as a lumbering corpse and shot and killed again, where does he go next? To the stage, of course. With his "Walking Dead" character returned to the soil (presumably), Jon Bernthal, who in March concluded his two-season run on that hit AMC horror series in spectacularly grisly fashion, will return to his roots as a classically trained stage actor: he will star in MCC Theater's production of "Small Engine Repair," alongside its author, John Pollono, that theater company said on Tuesday. "I did come to L.A. to try to get on TV and get in front of a camera, so I could have a stage career in New York," Mr. Bernthal said Tuesday in a telephone interview. It was a roundabout way of doing it. "Small Engine Repair," which made its debut last year at Rogue Machine Theater in Los Angeles, chronicles three New Hampshire men - Frank, Packie and Swaino - who have known each other since high school and who gather at Frank's repair shop for a momentous night of carousing and revelations. Mr. Pollono will play Frank and Mr. Bernthal will play Swaino, the lothario of the gang, reprising their roles from the Los Angeles production. Other cast members weren't immediately announced, but Jo Bonney ("The Break of Noon," "Fat Pig") will direct the play for MCC Theater. Mr. Bernthal said that when he was offered "Small Engine Repair" during a break from "The Walking Dead," it immediately struck him as a "dangerous play, with a masculine authenticity." The play went on to win honors from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle and other bodies, and Mr. Bernthal said he remained with it "up until two days before we started filming Season 2 of "The Walking Dead," because I needed to get in my truck with my dog and drive to Georgia." Before he was making enemies of the deceased and the living on "The Walking Dead," Mr. Bernthal studied at the Moscow Arts Theater in Russia and earned his Masters in Fine Arts from the American Repertory Theater. As a New York stage actor, Mr. Bernthal previously worked with Ms. Bonney as an understudy on Signature Theater Company's revival of Lanford Wilson's "Fifth of July" But, as Mr. Bernthal recalled: "I really had a frustration living in New York, because I felt that, to be able to do the plays that you want to do and get the roles that you want on stage, I saw one path to it, to go get yourself on TV somehow. And then those things open up for you. Since meeting his demise on "The Walking Dead," Mr. Bernthal has rejoined that show's creator, Frank Darabont, on a TNT crime-drama pilot called "L.A. Noir." And on Tuesday it was announced that Mr. Bernthal will play the role of a drug dealer and money launderer in "The Wolf of Wall Street," a new film that will be directed by Martin Scorsese and star Leonardo DiCaprio as a hard-working, hard-partying New York stockbroker. Mr. Bernthal said that while "The Walking Dead" had helped raise his professional profile, it did not guarantee him his role in Mr. Scorsese's film. "I definitely did not get a call that said, "Do you want to be in a Martin Scorsese movie?"" Mr. Bernthal said. I don't know if my poor heart could take that. On a day off from filming "L. A. Noir," Mr. Bernthal said he was asked if he could shoot a monologue that would be sent to the director on videotape. "I'm like, "Does a one-legged duck swim in a circle?"" he said. Of course I can. Despite the many prominent names involved in "L. A. Noir," Mr. Bernthal did not want to comment on its chances of getting picked up as a series, which TNT has not yet officially ordered. "Crazier things have happened, man," he said. From what I hear from Frank, the show's looking pretty good. But I've learned all too many times, don't get ahead of yourself. Everyone's really proud of the pilot and we'll have to see. "Small Engine Repair" will be the third production of MCC Theater's 2012-2013 season and will run next year at the Lucille Lortel Theater from May 16 through June 23. It will be preceded by Stephen Belber's play "Don't Go Gentle," directed by Lucie Tiberghien (Sept. 27 through Nov. 4) and Paul Downs Colaizzo's "Really Really," directed by David Cromer (Jan. 31 through March 10).