You’ll never guess how Ayo Edebiri came to direct an episode of The Bear.
(Spoilers follow for Season 3, Episode 6 of The Bear, “Napkins.”)
In the sixth episode of Season 3, The Bear flashes back in time to tell a story about Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas). Creator Chris Storer was keen on having Edebiri work with Colón-Zayas on “Napkins” for an atypical reason.
“Chris was like, ‘Who are the two most toxic people on set? Let’s pair them up.’” Edebiri says in an interview over Zoom—with not a single hint of sarcasm! (Kidding.)
Colón-Zayas, who is sitting right next to Edebiri, laughs at her coworker’s joke. But she has to set the record straight, because they do like each other: “From this one,” Colón-Zayas says, pointing towards Edebiri, “brilliant talent. As an actress, I gaze upon you. Like this.” Staring lovingly at Edebiri, she continues, “I gaze. Fearlessness, talent, open to collaboration.”
Heading into Season 3, Edebiri says that Storer and co-creator Joanna Calo both wanted an episode shining a light on Tina’s background. Thus, “Napkins” was born, following T in the days leading up to her accepting a job as a line cook at The Original Beef.
“When I first read the episode, I just started crying,” Colón-Zayas recalls.
The episode, written by Catherine Schetina, sees Tina attempting to restart her life after being laid off from her office job. With the support of her husband David (played by Colón-Zayas’ real-life partner David Zayas), Tina sets out into the freezing, slushy streets of Chicago to find a new gig. The episode is heartwarming, soul-crushing, hilarious—everything you’d expect out of The Bear.
“[Catherine] wrote an amazing episode,” Edebiri says of “Napkins.” “Whenever the scripts are available, or people steal it—I don’t know how people get these things—but whenever people read the script, well, that’s one of the best scripts I’ve read in the past few years.”
Directing has been an interest for Edebiri, who has written for TV shows like Dickinson and What We Do in the Shadows, for quite some time. Back during production on The Bear Season 2, Storer had approached Edebiri about the opportunity to direct in Season 3, and she jumped at the opportunity.
“When all the [Season 3 scripts] came out, he was like, ‘Did any stick out to you that you’d be down to do? Because I have some in mind as well,’” Edebiri says. “And ‘Napkins’ was the one that we both said, and I was just like, ‘I would chew off my right arm in front of you if I could direct it. Because that would be a dream.’”
Leading up to the episode, Edebiri took a course with and joined the Directors Guild of America. Then, she got to work. Because the episode doesn’t follow the season’s main storyline—which is usually focused on Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) as he works on developing The Bear, his fine-dining restaurant—Edebiri says she was able to make some tonal departures from the show’s usual style. Instead of the show’s usual constantly buzzing anxiety, a feeling of existential career dread creeps around in empty moments on the bus, or darkly humorous moments in bad job interviews.
It paid off. The episode is a tour-de-force, a relatable look into the endless, exhausting days of finding a job. By the end of the episode, a completely deflated Tina sobs into an Italian beef sub while Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and Michael (Jon Bernthal) argue over a video game in the background, signaling a transition in her life out of the blues of unemployment and into the frenetic energy of the restaurant industry. Edebiri’s directorial vision shines through in this moment, in which she finds a way to explode two chaotic moments in one frame.
“Honestly, it’s a little nerve-wracking when you have younger directors,” Colón-Zayas says of working with Edebiri. “Not because they are not capable, but like Tina, in my own head, it’s like, ‘Do I have to fight for my life here?’”
That wasn’t the case with Edebiri, she says. “Total opposite. [Ayo is] so easy and supportive.”
After directing one of the best episodes of TV this year—and not to mention starring in and co-executive producing The Bear, too—winning a Golden Globe and an Emmy, and starring in the biggest movie of the year thus far, is there anything Ayo Edebiri can’t do?
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