Yes, chef.
Jeremy Allen White, 33, and Ayo Edebiri, 28, have publicly responded to rumors that their characters, Carmie and Sydney, may be romantically involved in season 3 of The Bear.
“No, there was no talk of a romantic relationship in the room,” White said at an FX/Hulu press conference attended by The Post.
“The Bear,” which returns for its third season on Hulu on Wednesday, follows Carmen “Carmy” Belzatto (White), a chef in the fine dining industry who returns to Chicago to run the sandwich shop of her brother, Mikey (Jon Bernthal), who died by suicide.
The journey won’t be easy, with the ragtag team resisting Carmy’s management style.
By the third season of the awards darling show, Carmy and Sydney (Edebiri) have assembled a staff that includes his “cousin” Richie Jelimovich (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and pastry chef Marcus (Lionel Boyce) and transformed the establishment into a fine-dining restaurant.
Although Sydney and Carmie are friends and colleagues, many fans have speculated that they might be romantically involved, but while White says there have been “no talks of that,” Edebiri is more forthright in saying no.
White added that Carmy “was not the greatest communicator” but would sometimes make “big gestures” to reach out to Sid and other staff even when they “weren’t ready to accept it.”
“He has a lot going on in his head all the time and people don’t always know exactly what’s going on. We’ll see how that affects Carmen and Sid’s relationship, but I think Carmen is trying to make Sid feel welcome,” White said.
Speaking of what’s to come in season three, following the season two finale which saw Carmie locked in a walk-in fridge, White said: “We’re able to get out of the walk-in fridge, which is a good thing. I think Carmie’s doing his thing, which is he throws himself into his work and he tries to challenge himself, and in doing that, he challenges everyone around him and becomes pretty difficult to be around. A lot of challenges!”
White also said he’s not a perfectionist like Carmy.
“I’m the complete opposite. I admire Carmie so much and it’s something I aspire to in life, but I often struggle because it’s not a quality Carmie and I share.”
“I think there was real pressure” on him returning to the show after the role earned him an Emmy and a Golden Globe and catapulted him to new levels of fame.
The former “Shameless” star added that she was “very nervous” before filming season two and especially season three after the success of awards season.
He continued, “I knew the script was very strong and, as always, there’s a great opportunity. But the pressure is very real. I’ve been waiting a few weeks to get back to work. [the rest of the cast] And thanks to our amazing crew, it’s all back together, it’s fun again, and it all feels possible again.”
The hit show has already been renewed for a fourth season ahead of season three, and there have been rumors that the two seasons will be filmed back-to-back.
When asked if that was true, the cast members avoided answering.
“We did something similar,” White said, while Edebiri said, ” [filming Season 3 and 4 back to back]… Yes, but not exactly.”
