BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) –The titles of some television shows – such as “The Summer I Turned Pretty” or “Fear the Walking Dead” – leave little doubt as to the nature of the program. That’s definitely not the case with the new FX series “The Bear” that is set to debut on Hulu.
It could be anything from the life story of Alabama football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant to a nature show set in Alaska. Neither is even close.
“The Bear” – set to debut June 23 on Hulu – is a family drama that plays out against the culinary world. Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) is a young chef who leaves the world of fine dining world to return home to Chicago to run his family sandwich shop.
Executive producer/writer Joanna Calo says, “In regards to setting the show in that world, we felt like a show hadn’t been made yet that really showed an authentic kitchen and that there was some space there to tell some stories that people hopefully would connect with, both people who love food, love food shows or people who work in restaurants.
“I think there’s a lot of people out there who will recognize themselves in our show.”
Calo is banking that viewers who have had to take on a job or family responsibility and got pulled into a very different world will connect with her series. “The Bear” is about food, family and the insanity of the grind.
In terms of an acting grind, White had little time between working on the final season of “Shameless” and starting work on “The Bear.” He managed to find enough to prepare for the role of the young culinary chef by spending hours in professional kitchens.
He says, “The prep I did was pretty extensive. I was very much useless in the kitchen. I’m okay now. That’s due to going to a culinary school in Pasadena. I worked in some really lovely restaurants, mostly a restaurant called Pasjoli in Santa Monica. I spent a lot of time there with Chef Dave Beran.
“What I enjoy now that I have learned some stuff is I love cooking for my wife. I love cooking for my kids. It is just like I have understood cooking to be another form of communication or care, like taking care of people, and I loved that about it.”
White and the rest of the cast needed to have some culinary skills because the series was put together to make the cooking elements as real as possible including timing dishes so they were finished in time for a scene. The actors were allowed to improvise in the kitchen and if a mistake was made – such as dropping a knife or dish – the cameras continued to roll.
“The Bear” executive producer Matty Matheson – who has worked as an executive chef – has a recurring role in the series. He jokes that he started having kitchen dreams while filming the series.
“We were trying to do something that I think wasn’t done that often. We are literally trying to cook in real time. And once again, trying to have a dish at a certain preparation point and then redoing that shot, we would have to take the time sometimes to get that dish there again,” Matheson says. “The actors cooked everything. We set the stage, and then the actors would cook and butcher and make mise en place.”
The role in “The Bear” is the first big acting job for White away from “Shameless” in a decade. He was looking for a series that would take him in an entirely new direction. The fact “The Bear” is set in the culinary world was a huge draw for him because he has always wanted to learn more about cooking.
White also fell in love with his character when he read the script for the first time. The character broke his heart because Carmy comes across as being very lost and lonely.
“His identity is so wrapped up in being a chef and in this moment and being successful, and everything seems to be so life‑or‑death all the time,” White says. “I really think that Carmy thinks if he fails at this thing, his life is going to end.
“That’s something that I don’t feel so much anymore, but as a younger man and a younger actor, I think at times my identity was certainly very wrapped up in acting and what I do, and I don’t know how well I knew myself outside of that.”
In addition to White, this half-hour comedy stars Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ayo Edebiri, Abby Elliott, Lionel Boyce and Liza Colón-Zayas.
The oddly named “The Bear” was produced for the cable channel FX but all eight episodes will be available only through the streaming service of Hulu.
