As The Bear gears up for its fifth season, Jeremy Allen White is already deep in preparation mode, not just for the show, but for Thanksgiving. The actor became a critical darling for his portrayal of Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto.
Ever since The Bear made him a household name, White admits the expectations around his cooking have quietly intensified. “There was Thanksgiving, after the first season, where I cooked for everybody,” he recalls. “There was Christmas when I cooked for about 30 before shooting the first season. That was after culinary school and the one-on-one training and being in and out of kitchens. Not that it was bad, but everybody was like, ‘OK, yeah, it’s real.’ Yeah, there are definitely eyes on me.” Yet, when someone asks him for feedback on their cooking, he can’t bring himself to critique. “I would never guilt someone,” he says. “I haven’t earned that.”
White’s work on The Bear has become central to his artistic identity, and he’s determined to avoid the burnout he once felt on Shameless. Reflecting on the differences between the two shows, he says, “It’s different. My responsibility to that show feels different. I mean, it’s an ensemble like Shameless, but I don’t feel like I carried the same weight as [William H Macy or Emmy Rossum] did on Shameless. There were some years on Shameless where I felt more connected to Philip Gallagher, and there were some years I didn’t.”
With Carmy, however, it’s a bond that has only deepened. “I feel really connected to Carmy, and I feel really connected to [The Bear creator] Christopher Storer in a way that probably just due to my age I didn’t always feel with [Shameless showrunner] John Wells,” he explains. “Those were very separate things, kind of the story coming at me as an 18-year-old and a 19-year-old versus the story coming at me from Chris, who I really consider a friend and a peer.”
The Bear follows Carmy, a young fine-dining prodigy who returns home to Chicago after his brother Mikey’s death to run the family’s humble sandwich shop. With the help of Syd, he pushes the messy, beloved eatery toward becoming a refined, high-end restaurant. After the fourth season premiered in June, FX renewed the acclaimed series for a fifth in July. White confirms that production begins imminently. “January 5 or something like that,” he says. “Very soon.”
