Thirst Twitters current obsession analyzes Carmys tics and all that tomato sauce.
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Spoilers for the first season of FX on HulusThe Bearbelow.
Whites Carmy is bruised and bruising, andThe Bearbeats to his rhythm.
That was something accessible to me.
Im older now, and my lifes gotten bigger and better.
Thats a sad existence, if you cant find joy outside of your profession.
That clicked with me early on and helped me get into it.
I made a decision very early on: I need to learn the stuff I can fake.
I knew the knife skills were important.
That was something I needed to do all the time.
When I shot the pilot, I had my knife set and a cutting board in my hotel room.
I did get better at that.
But at the beginning, it all seemed daunting because I had no skills in the kitchen.
It was all learned from the show.
Were you able to suggest any qualities or details for the character?Chriswas really wonderful.
I was asking a lot about Michaels funeral: Did Carmy go to the funeral?
Where are his parents?
Then we made the decision together.
I didnt see you at the funeral.
And Carmy says, Yeah, I didnt go.
Thats such a crazy thing, to not attend.
Hes so angry at his brother that he felt like he couldnt go.
Something I talked toJoannaand Chris about is, whats Carmys life outside of the kitchen?
I dont think its there.
That is so heartbreaking.
Thats why its so easy to get angry.
Never mind the fact that he just lost his brother.
Carmys got a lot going on.
How they were raised?
Is it the stress of the restaurant?Its inherited.
Thats who he learned from.
Mikey was being avoidant, right?
He was not talking to the people who love him and care for him.
And whether Mike knew it or not, he is Carmys hero.
Thats who Carmys learning from.
Of course hes going to react to trauma and pain in a similar way.
At first glance, people could say thatShamelesss Lip Gallagher and Carmy Berzatto are very similar.
Theres the obvious stuff Chicago!
Lip was so fun to play because I had faith in him.
He had a good sense of self.
He knew how smart he was, how gifted he was, to the point of being obnoxious.
Yes, Carmys gifted.
Hes a talented chef.
Hes worked very hard at it.
But I dont think he had that same confidence or sense of self.
While Lip and Carmy can both be considered fragile characters, Carmy is on the edge all the time.
Everything is life or death for him.
I want to talk through several scenes that feel important for Carmy.
Michael had to be telling the story, everybody needed to be engrossed, everybody needed to be connected.
Thats a difficult thing to do.
Jon is so charismatic that he did it with seemingly great ease.
But Jons better than my imagination.
The camera stays on you this whole time and the scene depends entirely on your performance.
Can you talk about that responsibility?It was so hard.
That was our last day of shooting.
I was thinking about that scene every day.
Its always on the first or the last day, thats just how it goes.
I was thinking about it the whole shoot, and I used that speech as an in.
I would read it most mornings before work because it seemed like a map for Carmy.
Id perform it alone a lot, in my apartment.
I felt a lot of pressure.
But also, we shot this a traditional way several sizes, and we shot the meeting.
I just wanted to do the writing justice.
I knew how important that scene was.
I know it worked.
But you always want to do better.
I learned it all!
But thats a compliment, right?
Your performance was so powerful they decided not to deviate from it?For sure, it is.
They can protect you.
I love that we bookended it that way, too.
The opening of the show, on the bridge with the bear, is one of my favorite scenes.
It drops you into this world immediately.
It was really nice to have another version of that.
But this celebrity chef didnt understand the show and she didnt want to be involved.
That was our first day of filming, the first scene we filmed.
They were really fucking with me.
Im curious about Mikeys note.
Its Richies most vulnerable moment: He finally hands it over to Carmy after finding and rehiding it earlier.
Then its an interior scene for Carmy, whos trying to make sense of what Mikey has written him.
Can you walk me through that?The exchange of the note was something we talked about a lot.
I said to Chris and Ebon [Moss-Bacharach], I think these are two different moments.
That deserves its own thing.
We ended up shooting it by the lockers.
It was only one setup.
They put the camera where we were both sort of profile-y, and the scene played out.
He wrote this thing for me.
But theres also this thing of like, once you open that note and read it, its done.
Was the opening tomato-sauce cans scene the funniest experience on set?The image was hilarious, yes.
In the moment, I was also questioning it, like, Is this tonally correct?
Is this too silly?
They were like, And Sydneys going to walk into the room and catch you guys!
And I was like, Is this that kind of show?
But Chris was like, Its great, its going to work.
And he was absolutely right.
I asked the same question.
On the other, it raises so many questions that are the exact opposite: Was he saving?
The show wouldnt have happenedif Carmy had just cooked the spaghetti.
Which lesson needs to be learned?
Yes, obviously, he did.
Maybe I misunderstood this scene, but I thought, Surely, theyll pay back Cicero!
Theyre just going to raise money on their own for this restaurant that will become the Bear!
I think Carmys got an addict brain too.
Hes chasing something, and nothing is going to stop him.
You mentioned that Carmy is thinking,I could just let it burn.
Is he thinking that every time, as he hesitates to act?
Thats what you needed to do?
He went, Fuck it all.
Im just going to burn it down.
Maybe it is.Okay, if Mikey could just do that, maybe I can just do that.
Thats something Carmy had been battling with the whole season:Should I just forget it?
Richies fear of the neighborhood changing poses a question: Is his concern fueled by ethnic whiteness?
The place is changing.
Is he going to belong to this new place?
Maybe you had it at some point, but youve been working for a long time.
Maybe you actively tried to get rid of it.
I was like, That makes sense to me.
I think Carmys been on the run.
But for Richie, he puts that accent on.
Being a street guy, whatever that is.
And he was like, As physical as you want.
Youre tiny, Im a giant person.
In the pilot, there was a scene where Carmy loses it in the kitchen.
Really laying into them.
That was the most angry Carmy got, from my perspective, and they cut it.
In the long run, that was probably very wise.
Im curious about your career choices.
But youre picking TV and indie films.
What do you prioritize when youre looking for the next thing?
Has avoiding bigger stuff been deliberate?Not really.
I dont think Ive been invited?
But thats not where my interest necessarily lies, either.
At one point in my career I wanted so much success so quickly.
It was the time in my life that I clicked into with Carmy.
I felt like I was really good at this thing and wasnt getting what I deserved.
It was such an ugly place to be coming from.
Now Im in a place where consistency is more important to me, longevity is more important to me.
I dont feel like I need to have a breakout, whatever a breakout means.
If I can work consistently with talented people, with good story, thats all I need.
When Miles Teller got that, that was a hard one.
The flip side of that question is, sinceThe Bearcame out, youve become a new internet boyfriend.
I wouldnt call Carmy a scumbag!No, no, me either.
Is that something youre aware of?I am aware.
I dont have Twitter, but friends will send me stuff every once in a while.
I dont know, I guess its nice?
Im also like,Chefs are hot.Im wearing the uniform, you know what I mean?
I think people are just getting tricked.
His name isBen Shields.
He has an incredible knowledge of the history and art of tattoos, and even the geography of it.
He can see tattoos on older people and generally figure out where they were and when they got it.
It was actually my introduction to figuring out Carmy, because Ben wrote down a list of questions.
Its a very safe first thing to get.
Who gave that to you?
It was a really great exercise in writing a background for your character through the art they have.
All the safe ones.
Can you talk about Carmys pushing-his-hair-back move?
How did you achieve that voluminous texture?[Laughs.]
I think thats something I do in life, and I was also looking for tics.
I tried to do this blinking thing with Carmy.
I wanted him to seem very unsettled all the time, like he couldnt ever be still.
I also wanted Carmy to always look just a little dirty.
And then this stuff called funnily enough Pacinos Pomade.
Al Pacino has no connection to the product, but it does happen to be called Pacinos.
I went to a CVS and was like,I need something.
Its super cheap, nothing fancy.
Original Beef or Patsys Pies?Original Beef.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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