[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers through the Season 2 finale of The Bear, “The Bear.” This interview was recorded prior to the SAG strike.]The Bear Season 2 saw a significant amount of growth and change in a number of key characters as personal and professional challenges collide. For example, Ebon Moss–Bachrach’s Richie gains a greater respect for what it means to run a successful restaurant and, in the process, gains some much-needed self-confidence while carrying the emotional weight of strained relationships with family and friends. While there will likely be more to explore in Season 3, it seems Richie is heading down a path where a rising tide lifts all boats; personal growth will influence his work for the better and vice versa.
Carmy (Jeremy Allen White), on the other hand, seems to be going in the opposite direction. Season 2 explores a number of Carmy’s personal challenges outside the kitchen, but one especially significant one winds up being Carmy’s struggle to establish a work-life balance, something we dig into via his relationship with Molly Gordon’s Claire, Carmy’s childhood friend. After reconnecting at a grocery store, the two slowly pursue a romantic relationship. While Carmy does clearly care for Claire, the pressures of the restaurant ultimately get to him resulting in Carmy blaming all of his business missteps on being distracted by her, putting him in a headspace where he’s convinced he needs to fully commit himself to work and nothing else.
While on Collider Ladies Night in celebration of the release of her upcoming directorial debut, Theater Camp, Gordon took a moment to break down Claire’s reaction to what Carmy says while locked in the fridge in the Season 2 finale.
But, before getting to that crushing moment, we went back to the beginning of Gordon’s The Bear journey, digging into the goals she and creator Christopher Storer had when introducing a new character who’s completely different from every other individual featured on the show. Everything from Claire’s tone and cadence to how she’s lit is in stark contrast to the heated chaos the other main players are almost always embroiled in. What value does such a unique personality bring to a show like The Bear? Gordon explained:
“What Chris and I were excited about with Claire is that kindness and empathy is a really radical thing now. It’s so crazy to just see a kind character in anything because we’re such a kind of pessimistic society now. I think with a show like The Bear, with a first season that’s so intense and Uncut Gems and crazy energy and a combustible situation, to have a character that’s just peaceful and in herself and really just wants to connect — she just wants to be in a relationship where people are good to each other. Carmy’s going so fast and running from so much, so much family trauma and all this stuff, just looking at another human being is like the most intimate thing he could possibly do.”
Gordon also emphasized how proud she is of how such intimacy was further explored later in the season:
“I love that later in the season, when we have our kind of sex scene, true intimacy for Carmy is just staring at another woman, really just deep connection like that, and I loved to get to be a part of something like that where it wasn’t some sexy, naked thing. It was just looking into each other’s eyes.”
As someone who has struggled to maintain a positive work-life balance herself — and really, who hasn’t? — Gordon was also quite eager to explore the impact Claire could have on Carmy in that department. “I’ve struggled with work-life balance and, ‘Oh, can I only be in pain to produce good work?’” She added, “When Chris asked me to be a part of it and I learned what it was, I just kept texting him, ‘Oh my god, I’m so excited that I get to be a part of something that’s talking about this because we all struggle with it.’”
It’s quite clear that Claire’s been far more successful than Carmy in striking such a balance and while Gordon’s performance alone exhibits more than enough authority to make a viewer believe it’s authentic and earned, one can’t help but wonder how Claire became the person we meet at the beginning of Season 2. Were there any backstory details Gordon had to develop on her own that we can now feel informing and justifying the decisions Claire makes throughout the show?
“I’m there to serve Jeremy’s storyline in a beautiful way, to get to talk about someone who can’t let love in. To get to be part of something like that I felt so grateful for, but I also was like, Claire’s a fucking badass! Chris and I talked about [how] she is so smart, she is about to be a full doctor at such a young age, she literally takes no prisoners. She was already in a relationship many years ago with someone like Carmy and she’s like, ‘I’m never doing that again.’”
We see that mentality come into play when Claire refuses to laugh off Carmy giving her the wrong phone number at the beginning of the season.
“When Carmy gives her the wrong number, first of all, have we ever heard of avoidance? Let’s just put that into the space, but she calls him and she’s like, ‘What the fuck?’ She’s not waiting around for anything. She’s just doing what she wants in her life, and I really liked that. And she also is not so into gender roles that she’s like, ‘You have to call.’ She’s just like, ‘I like you. Do you like me? Do you want to do this?’ And then I also love at the end of the show where, in the fridge scene, she doesn’t go to him like, ‘Oh, I’m sorry you feel that way. Can I change myself so you won’t feel that way anymore?’ She leaves the situation for now. Hopefully there will be a longer journey for them, but for now I liked the idea that she had already been in a relationship where she shrunk to fit and she doesn’t want to do that anymore.”
While Claire may have a no-nonsense approach to getting what she needs from a relationship, it doesn’t translate into her lashing out at Carmy in that moment. Instead, she walks away from that fridge, yes, disappointed and heartbroken, but also understanding of the position Carmy finds himself in and accepting of the fact that she can’t compromise personal relationship priorities to accommodate that.
Here’s what Gordon said when asked about finding the right blend of heartbreak and acceptance while playing that particular moment:
“I think Carmy saying, I don’t deserve to give happiness or receive it, when she hears that I think she’s hurt because he clearly doesn’t want to be in a relationship right now, but I think she also just feels such deep pain that he’s trapped in himself like that. He’s literally like in a refrigerator of his own heart. It’s a crazy thing. And so I think she just feels like, I’m gonna let you go on your journey. And then her conversation with Ebon, she also does feel so much pride for him and his journey, and Ebon’s whole character journey in Season 2 is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. And I love that they have that moment of connection because Cousin wants Carmy to have love so badly and she knows that. It’s this moment of like, it’s not working right now but I’m so proud of you guys, and I can still hold both things. She’s mature enough to do that. And I also love that she doesn’t shout at Jeremy. She’s like, you’re in pain, it’s okay, I’m gonna take a little space.”
So is this the end of the road for Claire and Carmy? In fact, could it be the end of the road for Carmy’s love life entirely? Here’s Gordon’s take:
“I have no idea what the future holds for anything, but I really liked watching Jeremy smile. I liked watching his character have a little bit of joy. I hope he can have more of it whether that be with Claire, someone else or just through other friends or whatever in his life. I do believe that it’s not the end of the road for him to be happy. I just don’t know what that looks like for him.”
Eager to hear more from Gordon on The Bear, Theater Camp, Shiva Baby, and then some? Stay tuned! We’ll have her full Collider Ladies Night interview for you soon.
In the meantime, check out our chat with Gordon and the Theater Camp team from Sundance 2023 below:
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