IT'S MATTY'S WORLD WE'RE JUST LIVING IN IT

From the “Beef Barn” to The Bear, the multihyphenate is a new kind of celebrity who's shaping stardom on his own terms.

- BY ERIC HENDRIKX PHOTOGRAPHS BY TAL ROBERTS FOR GOZNEY

MATTY MATHESON SITS IN A HOTEL room in Redondo Beach, CA, when we connect. He's working on a short film with Ricky Staffieri, who plays his character's brother on The Bear. Outside, the haze is lifting off the Pacific. Inside, Matheson-tattooed, unfiltered, slightly chaotic-is already thinking about the gym. After our interview, he'll head to the hotel's “shitty fitness center” for 90 minutes of functional punishment, then it's right back to set. His schedule is nonstop. Last year, he was on the road for 300 days. This year is tracking the same. This is the version of Matheson you don't see on screen: the one who refuses to coast.

“I'm a workaholic,” he says. “I want to do things every day.”

It's a far cry from Neil Fak, the softhearted mechanic he plays on the Emmy-winning series The Bear, where he also serves as executive producer. His path to the show started with a call from creator Christopher Storer, who initially brought him on as a culinary consultant. But when Matheson showed up, it was clear he belonged on camera. He vibrates with an unbridled kinetic energy-like a bolt of lightning. It may come as a surprise, but his comedic timing is matched by his work ethic. That's where he and Fak splinter.

“I'm also a people pleaser, and we're both vulnerable,” he admits. “Beyond that, we're very different. Neil wants to be included and have fun. Fixing things-maybe not fixing things. Whereas I'm always moving. I'm always working. People on set say they like Neil more than me,” he laughs. “I get it.”

While filming in Chicago, the cast lifts weights together between takes. “Four or five times a week, we're in the gym, pushing each other,” he says. “We want each other to succeed on and off screen.”

Matheson as affable mechanic Neil Fak on set of The Bear.