WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD!
Matty Matheson is opening up about The Bear.
The 42-year-old actor and chef spoke to Variety about Season 3 of the series, and playing Neil Fak, as well as his role as culinary consultant and producer.
During the conversation, Matty spoke about the making of the third season, meeting Jamie Lee Curtis, the debate about how the show should be categorized at awards shows, working with a surprise guest star and more.
Keep reading to find out more…
On his sweet first encounter with Jamie Lee Curtis:
“It’s crazy. The first time I saw Jamie was at the Golden Globes or something, before she came on the second season. We were in the ballroom, and there weren’t a lot of people in there. I called [series creator Christopher Storer] and was like, ‘Can I just go up and say hello to her?’ And he was like, ‘For sure! Go say what’s up!’ As I was walking up to her, she pointed at me and was like, ‘I know who the f-ck you are! Get over here!’ We just hit it off. She’s so sweet. She’s our big mama. She hangs with us the whole time, even when she’s not on screen. Being around someone like that, a true icon, is amazing. ‘Trading Places’ is my family’s movie. We loved that movie growing up. Never in a million years—and now we’re friends! We’re texting! She really is an incredible person.”
On whether The Bear should being categorized as a comedy or a drama for the Emmys:
“We’re just a 30-minute show. There aren’t 30-minute dramas. It’s actually a technical thing, and a lot of people don’t understand that. It’s not like we’ve put ourselves in a category. Our show is our show. We’re making The Bear. Life is uncompromising, and life is funny. I wish everyone knew that it’s just a technical thing, where we’re not in control of that. We don’t think we’re making a comedy—we’re making a show about a family-owned restaurant and life on life’s terms.”
On The Bear being his first substantial acting gig:
“It’s just being around amazing people. Ebon [Moss-Bachrach] and Jeremy [Allen White] and Ayo [Edebiri] and Lionel [Boyce] and Liza [Colón-Zayas] and Ricky [Staffieri] and Abby [Elliott] are so incredible to work with. They’re so giving and they make it easy, and they make me feel comfortable. We all live in this building together [when shooting], so we’re always like, ‘Hey, what are you doing? We’ve got a big scene tomorrow, come down and run some lines.’”
On acting alongside John Cena, who guest stars as Neil’s brother:
“He came in and was so professional, so dialed. It was a trip. My son, who is 8, is always doing that ‘You can’t see me’ Cena thing. He’s bigger than life. He was reading in between takes, and we were all like, ‘What’s that book on his chair?’ He was reading, like, literally a medical doctrine on neurology. It was crazy…John even made a cute little video for [my son.] He’s such a sweetheart.”
