Season two of The Bear has officially hit Hulu streaming platforms, which means one thing: Jeremy Allen White is back on TV—alongside a similarly smoking hot Will Poulter.
And while White spent time literally working as a line chef in real life to prep for the culinary role, he says that Joanna Call and Christopher Storer—the co-showrunner and creator—said he didn't have to drive himself "as crazy" as he did for the first season.
While prepping for The Bear season one, White observed the staff (and even got his hands a bit dirty too) in professional kitchens, including buzzy Santa Monica French restaurant Pasjoli.
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"I was working in some, I mean, really amazing restaurants, Michelin Star places where they have everything together and they're making a lot of money," he told Gold Derby. "You'd be shocked at just how much success is necessary to be in a real place of real ease at a restaurant."
And while you might think that White couldn't handle the heat of the kitchen, we'd all be wrong. Maybe that's what makes him such a convincing Carmy. Spending time in those kitchens was "something I wanted to do," he told the outlet. "I like spending time in these places, I like all the people that work there, and I like all learning about this craft."
According to White, some of those kitchen lessons he learned—specifically, what he found "most shocking"—has reportedly inspired some content for the show's follow-up season.
"I spent a lot of time as a fly on the wall, and I’d help them prep where you can’t really screw up anything too badly," the Shameless alum said of his time at Pasjoli. "It was a pretty busy night and Chef Dave [Beran] pushed me onto the line." Chef told him to "start cooking" and he was "so, so scared," he added. He said that he "started looking at restaurants as little miracles. It's such a difficult and competitive world to enter."
Megan Schaltegger is an NYC-based writer. She loves strong coffee, eating her way through the Manhattan food scene, and her dog, Murray. She promises not to talk about herself in third person IRL.
