'The Bear' co-stars examine how their close off-screen friendship extends to their on-screen chemistry.
It's no surprise that The Bear's Ayo Edebiri and Jeremy Allen White have a deep connection -- their chemistry on-screen has led to a frenzy of fan theories about their characters, Sydney Adamu and Carmy Berzatto, respectively.
Created by Christopher Storer, The Bear follows the story of Carmy, a fine-dining chef who teams up -- and oftentimes butts heads -- with his sous chef, Sydney. The two start as partners in pursuit of saving Carmy's late brother's restaurant, The Original Beef, but later move their efforts to the development of their own restaurant, The Bear.
And while the characters' on-screen relationship has sparked a fiery debate on whether there's potential for a love story between the show's two protagonists, the actors' off-screen friendship is just as interesting. In a wide-ranging profile for Edebiri's cover story for Vanity Fair, she and White, 33, gush about how their bond has grown since beginning their award-winning journey on the FX series.
"We really enjoy each other in life, on camera and off camera. I have a tremendous amount of respect for her as a person, but also as an artist. And so I hope that sort of that kind of thing shines through on camera between Carm and Syd," White tells the outlet.
"Syd is always able to...I don't know, to deliver something different to Carmy, and she's usually right," he adds. "And I guess I think Ayo is also usually right."
"The most joy that I feel from those awards shows are hearing her and Ebon's names," White earnestly shares, referring to their co-star, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, who won a supporting actor Emmy for his role as Richie.
Edebiri, 28 capped an amazing awards season during which she swept the major categories for her role as Sydney on the FX series. In January, Edebiri became the third Black woman to win in the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series category, a year after Abbott Elementary's Sheryl Lee Ralph became the second.
It was an especially momentous win since Quinta Brunson and Edebiri -- who are close friends and frequent collaborators -- became the first Black women to ever win Best Lead Actress and Supporting Actress in the same year that night.
"My name was in a league with a lot of really amazing performances and shows in their final season and all that stuff. I'm just really, really floored," Edebiri told ET after her win, before acknowledging the success of The Bear overall at the Emmys, calling herself and her co-workers "very, very, very fortunate."
"I think that's really all you can say," she said. "It's weird, these things, they make it win or lose, but I love TV. I love watching TV. The shows and performances that we were nominated alongside are so good. To have any sort of recognition really, especially form our peers, is stunning and humbling and really nice."
When theorizing how her friendship with White is reflected in the relationship between Sydney and Carmy on-screen, Edebiri tells Vanity Fair that work "can be a very intimate thing and a very personal thing and a very emotional thing," and something about working in creative industries "also invokes feelings of passion."
"Also, boy's got some beautiful blue eyes. You know what I mean? Those are eyes you want to project onto," she quips.
And it's not just Edebiri and White who have grown close within the cast. Anyone who follows the Bottoms star's social media accounts can see that behind the scenes, the cast has become their own family. Edebiri regularly posts videos and photos of the cast fooling around while working on set.
Previously, Edebiri has said that she doesn't believe fans hoping Sydney and Carmy will become romantic will "get what they want."
"It's really not our thought process when we're making the show," Edebiri told The Hollywood Reporter last August. "I think it's incredibly cool to have this dynamic onscreen that isn't romantic, but that feels charged and sexy."
But as the show gears up for the June 27 premiere of season 3 -- and the reportedly already greenlit season 4 -- fans' hopes are sparked anew. Some fans have even begun to scrutinize the pair's real-life friendship as fodder for their theories.
Social media was sent into a frenzy when footage of the cast at a Chicago Cubs game went viral over the weekend because White and Edebiri sat next to one another, with the father of two caught gently rubbing her back and draping his arm around her back at one point.
"Work wife-husband relationship is going crrazzyyy," one X (formerly Twitter) user wrote, while another user wrote they were "trying so hard to be normal about this."
The Bear viewers will just have to wait and see if their theories about Sydney and Carmy come true in the upcoming seasons.
Although Edebiri told ET at the 2024 Met Gala that she cannot "confirm or deny" whether the restaurant drama has been renewed for a fourth season, she did share that she and the cast have been "working hard" to bring fans a new season.
Around the same time as the show's renewal, ET spoke with White, and he gave an update on how he is preparing for season 3.
"I haven't read scripts yet, that's the truth," White shared with ET. "But, yeah, we will be going back [into production] in, like, late February, early March. I'm gonna get together with some chefs starting in January and start doing some prep."
For White, that means emotional prep as the series heavily focuses on emotional storylines and anxiety-inducing situations, including a season 2 cliffhanger that scratches the surface.
Fans of the show will remember that season 2 left off with Carmy trapped in the walk-in freezer at his restaurant and engaged in an argument with Richie (Moss-Bachrach) over letting Claire (Molly Gordon) get away. The argument closed out the episode which also saw the restaurant falling into shambles upon its reopening.
All 10 episodes of The Bear season 3 will be available to stream on Hulu June 27.
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