The Bear star on having her directorial debut on show

Ayo Edebiri may be best known for her acting and comedy, but it seems she is also just as capable behind the camera as in front of it.

The Bear star tells the BBC about her experience stepping behind the scenes to direct episode six of the new season of The Bear.

“I had a total blast and I learnt so much from it,” Edebiri, who plays sous chef Sydney, tells the BBC.

“I love our cast but being able to collaborate with them from a different vantage point gave me so much more appreciation for them but also appreciation for the sheer amount of effort it takes to make television.

“It really is such a powerful and beautiful machine,” the 28-year-old gushes.

The actress, who recently starred in Inside Out 2, has won a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild award, and an Emmy for her performance in the comedy-drama.

The episode she directs is called Napkins and is all about Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas), one of the chefs at the Chicago restaurant.

Colón-Zayas, 52, jokes that Edebiri was “just OK” at directing, before her co-star Lionel Boyce, who plays sensitive pastry chef Marcus, jumps in and says that the episode was his favourite of the season.

“It’s so cool when you watch someone you know directing as you see her influence in the episode.

“Ayo had her own vision and I really want to see her direct more thing,” he says.

Boyce and Edebiri also praise Colón-Zayas for her acting skills.

“Directing Liza was amazing, I was telling her to do insane things and she just does it; I can see why she is everyone’s favourite actor,” Edebiri explains.

The show follows a young chef from the fine dining world, Carmy, as he returns to the family run sandwich shop in Chicago after his brother’s suicide.

In season two, Carmy and his team transform his brother’s shop into a new restaurant: The Bear.

After its successful opening, season three follows the chefs as they strive even harder for culinary excellence and the all important Michelin star.

But filming the latest season has come with certain additional pressures, that are probably akin to those faced in high-stake restaurant kitchens.

“There’s always a first day of school nerves when you start filming a new series,” explains Abby Elliott who plays Carmy’s sister Sugar.

The first season of the show won 10 Emmy Awards including three for acting and outstanding comedy series. Earlier this year it also picked up the award for the best TV series at the Golden Globes.

“There is this beautiful noise around the show that we are really grateful for,” says lead actor Jeremy Allen White.

“But it’s really special how once we get back to the restaurant in Chicago everything quietens down and we go back to the place where we shot the pilot.

“Back then no one knew or cared about the awards and there were no expectations – we were just making something that felt good for us.

The rest of the cast agree. Boyce says: “The pressure is suspended when we’re filming”, while Edebiri says the actors have “managed to recreate the same bubble that existed in previous seasons and just make it all about the work.”

Allen White also adds that “there’s something about the work environment when we’re filming that actually matches the pace of what it’s like in the kitchen, so there’s always been an inherent pressure in how we make the show”.

It’s no wonder then that Allen White doesn’t find it too difficult to get into character.

“It’s not hard for me to get stressed or worked up, it’s actually quite accessible for me as I learn towards being a bit of an anxious person naturally,” he tells the BBC.

A stress inducing drama about a failing restaurant may not have immediately sounded like a hit, but the show has gained an impressive cult-like following.

Edibiri says people love the show so much because it “has its really intense moments but also lots of beautiful and ridiculous moments and as a human you know what that feels like”.

The show was filmed as people came out of the pandemic, which, according to Edibiri, was a time when “people were thinking a lot about work and what it means; like are you working in a job you’re passionate about or with people you like. The show grapples with those exact questions”.

“But also everyone eats and there just aren’t that many shows that focus on what goes on behind the scenes in a restaurant,” Edibiri adds.

Allen White says the show is “about striving for greatness” and that appeals to people as “the feeling of really trying hard at something is a familiar one”.

The cast all say The Bear is about family – the one you grow up with but also your chosen family.

“Everyone an relate to how being with your family can be both beautiful and insane at the same time,” Colón-Zayas says.

And the cast reassure us that there are plenty more beautiful and insane moments to come in season three.