YOU'VE LIKELY SEEN the image floating around your feeds: Jeremy Allen White, hair rakishly disheveled, raising a tattooed forearm in brooding frustration. This still, from The Bear, has quickly sent an admirably loud faction of Twitter tumbling down a rabbit hole of tortured lust for White's character-a fine-dining chef named Carmy who returns to Chicago to take over the family sandwich shop after his brother's suicide-despite all better judgment. His face is kryptonite, vacillating between composed stillness and rapid emotional outbursts, eyes perpetually slightly wide regardless of who's on the receiving end of his gaze. Carmy's got a smile like an apology and a smirk like an inside joke. White, in his first lead TV role since Shameless, guides the series' thrilling first season through turns both comedic and dramatic, imbuing Carmy with a deep, at times conflicting, interiority. Carmy is bruised and bruising-The Bear beats to his rhythm.
What was it about The Bear that hooked you?
I knew immediately how much I cared for Carmy and how much my heart hurt for him, and I don't think I knew exactly why yet. In retrospect, it's because I saw this lonely man whose identity was so wrapped up in being an incredibly successful chef, and if he didn't get there, he really felt like he was going to die. That was something accessible to me. I'm older now, and my life's gotten bigger and better. But there was a time as a young actor that I felt very wrapped up in my profession. If I wasn't succeeding or I wasn't getting everything I wanted, it was like the end of the world. That's a sad existence if you can't find joy outside of your profession.
Were you able to suggest any qualities or details for Carmy?
This story is from the July 18 - 31, 2022 edition of New York magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the July 18 - 31, 2022 edition of New York magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Unmasking Diddy
The rap mogul shook off decades of rumored bad behavior with wholesome PR revamps. Now the allegations against him are his legacy.
Staging Sufjan
How playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury turned a classic indie-rock album into a Justin Peck-choreographed dance piece that's now Broadway bound.
Justin Kuritzkes Serves an Ace
With his first movie script for the erotic tennis drama Challengers, he has gone from struggling playwright to in-demand screenwriter.
To Brooklyn, by Way of Paris and Rome
A whirlwind week with Dior creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri as she stages the brand's first New York runway show in a decade.
A Burlesque Family at Home
Showbiz couple Angie Pontani and Brian Newman’s high-spirited Marine Park house.
A Bistro With Shish Barak
Huda impressively balances its many influences.
THE 'DEBATE ME BRO
Mehdi Hasan's aggressive interviewing style landed him a Sunday show on MSNBC. Until he started talking about Palestine.
THE MAN WHO GOSSIPED TOO MUCH
For almost two decades, JOHN NELSON anonymously published blind items skewering the Hollywood elite on the blog CRAZY DAYS AND NIGHTS. Then his identity was revealed in the midst of a messy affair.
TODD BLANCHE IS A SURPRISINGLY COMPETENT LAWYER. AND HE'S ON TRACK TO KEEP HIS CLIENT OUT OF JAIL UNTIL THE ELECTION. IN DEFENSE OF TRUMP
TODD BLANCHE WAS looking for his man. Or it could be a woman, but probably not.
Self: Emma Alpern
In Outer Space Why do so many women believe their bodies are controlled by the moon?