The Bear is Back for Season 3

By starrymag | June 26, 2024

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Everyone is waiting with bated breath for Season 3 of “The Bear.” We pick up with the staff of the newly successful restaurant The Bear not long after Season 2 ends, so fans will be eager to see how the eatery and crew evolve. We had the opportunity to speak with the cast of the hit series and viewers will only be left shifting in their seats until we can finally watch it all go down.

 

 

Character Evolution:

 

Ebon Moss-Bachrach: I think Richie is in a place where he’s sort of seen…he’s been exposed to maybe a more evolved way of being, and I think he kind of sees a path to head towards. But it’s one thing to see the path and it’s another thing to walk it. So, I think, like any kind of personal growth, it’s forward and back and there’s not a kind of clear and one-direction path.

 

Syd and Carmy’s Partnership

 

Ayo Edebiri: Well, I think that that’s one of the things in the season that we sort of deal with is what it means to Sydney and what that next step would mean for her relationship with Carmy, who’s somebody that I think she really has looked up to but now is sort of in the thick of doing business with. And it’s I think a lot more chaotic than she might have idealized before they really started working together. So yeah, I think that’s sort of something that you’ll see.

Jeremy Allen White: Yeah. Yeah, I think for Carmen, he’s not the best communicator but he will often kind of make a sort of grand gesture like that to try and communicate to Syd or the kitchen or whomever. And I think that’s his way of kind of reaching out. But oftentimes, I feel like people aren’t prepared to sort of receive like—I think he’s got a lot going on in his mind all the time and people aren’t always aware of exactly what’s going on. And so, yeah, I guess…again, yeah, you’ll see obviously how that affects Carmen and Syd’s relationship. But I think Carmen’s trying to welcome her in a little bit was the point of the partnership agreement, yeah.

 

Matty on “The Bear’s” Cuisine

 

Matty Matheson: Yeah, like, Courtney Storer is also a producer, and she handles a lot of the menu development. I work with her and her team and ideation stuff of what Carmy and Syd would be thinking about and how to execute those types of dishes and create those types of menus and who they are and how they would present themselves through a culinary lens. But yeah, a lot of the dishes—you know, we had some really good chefs, and Courtney is amazing at executing and creating that food and bringing that to life. And there were some dishes that were more difficult than others. A lot of the desserts that Lionel and Marcus were creating and storytelling were difficult. Pastry is very—you know, it’s a lot of science, a lot of stuff going into that. But overall, I think just trying to make beautiful food and thoughtful food and pushing the envelope.

 

Craving More Matty

 

Matty Matheson: think they saw that I could remember a couple more lines. And then, I think Chris kind of chucked me a couple lines, and then I think we’ll keep it moving. But yeah, I don’t know. I really don’t know. I think happy to be here and then, you know—

Jeremy Allen White: I think, yeah, I mean, I think Chris was responding to Matty’s work on the show. Matty had never acted before the show, and it turns out he can do it so beautifully and he can be so funny and lovable. And so, I think Chris wanted to work with him more and more. And it’s also like I’ve never seen Chris be more joyful than when he’s directing a scene with Matty and like throwing lines at him. It really is the most excited that I see Chris Storer is working with Matty.

 

“The Bear” Non-Negotiables

 

Ayo Edebiri: …be nice to each other.

Jeremy Allen White: Yeah.

Ayo Edebiri: Learn your lines.

Jeremy Allen White: Show up—

Ayo Edebiri: Show up.

Jeremy Allen White: …prepared.

Abby Elliott: Prepared.

Jeremy Allen White: On time.

Ayo Edebiri: On time, yeah.

Abby Elliott: Yeah, on time is a big one.

Ayo Edebiri: Yeah. Stay hydrated.

Abby Elliott: Mm-hm. Take vitamin C.

 

Perfection Demanded

 

Jeremy Allen White: I am so the opposite. Like, I think that I…it’s something I admire a lot about Carmy, and I think it’s something that I try and I strive for in my life. But no, that’s not a quality that I think Carm and I share. I struggle often.

 

Processing Grief

 

Abby Elliott: Yeah, I think with Natalie, she’s processing her grief and she’s about to become a mother. She’s pregnant and so, she’s grappling with the fact that her brother had this horrible demise and her relationship with her mom and her brother is not in a good place. So, I feel like, yeah, she’s dealing with the grief in that way.

Ayo Edebiri: Yeah, I feel like a lot of different characters have grief that touched them in different ways in how they’re dealing with it. I mean, I think you said it very aptly. That’s one of the connecting threads of the show, so I think it’s in the process of being dealt with by different characters in different ways in this season.

Ebon Moss-Bachrach: I would say that it’s even one of the strengths of the show and I think one of the reasons that it’s connected with so many people is I think grief is the river that runs through all of us. And it’s the one sort of—maybe one of the only common things that we all share in the human experience. And so, yeah, that continues, and everyone deals with it in their own way. Or not, you know.

 

 

Tina In the Spotlight

 

Liza Colón-Zayas: What’s up with Tina is she is struggling to, you know, be her best and the challenges and wrestling with the demons of her past and you know, white-knuckling.

 

 

Ayo Edebiri Behind the Camera

 

Ayo Edebiri: [Chris Storer] had one in mind. We’re lucky enough to read all the episodes as actors beforehand, and we’d been talking about it for a while. And I know that he had one in mind, and I think he and the other producers, like Joanna, had talked about it a bit, about how the episodes would be distributed. Because I wasn’t the only guest director this season. Our AD, Duccio Fabbri, also directed an episode. And so, I think they had in their minds who would go where a little bit. But then we had a conversation, and he was like, “Which scripts are you responding to?” And I was like, “I would literally give you my firstborn child, who does not exist yet, if I could do the Liza episode, because I would love to work with Liza in that way.” And then, he was like, “Well, we have nice little parallel thinking.” So, yeah.

Directing was a blast. I really loved it. It’s like a dream to get to work with our crew as an actor. And so then, I guess by extension of directing that feeling was only amplified. I was just so impressed and so moved every day. And then, I got to direct some of my favorite actors in the world, and it just felt like a bit of a master class but also a gift. Like, I was just in the best circumstances of truly just masters of their craft beside me, and I just felt so lucky. I was kind of like this is maybe the best job in the world? Or tied for first place, at least, with the one of acting. Yeah, so it was really wonderful.”

 

 

Syd and Carmy Stans

 

Ayo Edebiri: No.

Jeremy Allen White: No? No, there was no talk in the rooms about any romantic implications.

 

 

Sorry Syd and Carmy shippers…Regardless, for those chomping at that bit to watch Season 3 of “The Bear,” make room for us on the couch because we’ll bring the snacks so we can find out what happens at this newly celebrated Chicago hot spot.

 

 

 

*CONFERENCE CALL*