A lifelong Georgia resident, Bernard (The Guard) Bradley, Jr., began his background acting career in 2014 after seeing both The Hunger Games and The Walking Dead filming across the street from his office. His first film was Cell, starring Samuel L. Jackson and John Cusack. Portraying a zombie-type character chasing the actors through the woods was all that was needed to hook him into the film industry. Typically cast as a guard or cop, a PA gave him the name, Bernard The Guard, in order to remember his name and role on set.