There’s a reason that even when The Bear is at its most anxiety-inducing, it remains perhaps the most inspirational television series of the decade so far.
And it’s not because of the show’s lead character, a wunderkind chef who moves back home to Chicago to take over his late brother’s neighbourhood sandwich shop and then attempts to turn it into a Michelin-starred restaurant. Rather, The Bear’s power comes from people who already worked there. With a master in their presence, they are each presented with the opportunity to become something more.
It’s a show about excellence and how seemingly normal people can, with the right support, will themselves and each other to rise to the occasion, and become the best at what they do.
It feels real because it is. The show’s ensemble cast, too, have each gone from unknowns to global stars, after having willed a low-budget streaming series from hidden gem to global cultural touchstone.
As Lionel Boyce, who stars as Marcus, tells The National: “Greatness, to me, always felt like this shiny orb with no entry point. Now I get to feel what it’s like on the inside.
“It’s like: ‘Oh, this is how they think. This is how much people need to care about every specific detail to make something like this work.’"
He adds: “On set, I’m always trying to learn as I go – to grasp the show’s engine. I get to a point of understanding, then quickly realise I don’t understand anything and then start over."
Marcus is the show’s beating heart. Like Boyce himself, he's a former university American football player, quiet and unassuming, who slowly discovers his potential to become a world-class pastry chef.
In the standout season two episode Honeydew, Marcus travels to Denmark to learn from the best. It plays out much as Boyce describes the show behind the scenes – at first he’s mediocre, but he refuses to give up, slowly equaling the brilliance of those around him. And all the time, he’s concerned that he’s left behind his ailing mother for the first time in his life, fearful that at any moment, she may die without him by her side.
The episode was directed by Egyptian-American comedian and filmmaker Ramy Youssef. In a sense, the show might not exist without Youssef as The Bear's creator Christopher Storer got his break as a director and producer on Youssef’s show Ramy.
“Ramy and I would meet up and walk around Copenhagen and just talk about relationships," Boyce says. "Specifically, the relationships that Marcus has with everyone and everything around him.
“And all the time, there’s this mounting tension that’s palpable through the whole episode. There’s this terrible thing you expect to happen to Marcus at some point in the episode, but it never comes. The shoe doesn’t drop. And Ramy was really thoughtful about crafting that. He’s such a team player, always there to support us all.”
In the final scene of season two, the thing Marcus feared most finally happens – his mother's death. This sets up one of season three’s most moving scenes, in which the soft-spoken Marcus delivers a eulogy at her funeral.
“To do it, I had to think more about everything outside the monologue than the monologue itself,” Boyce explains. "In a way, I had to learn it and then forget it. You have to keep it fresh.
“A lot of that I learnt in Honeydew. Suddenly, I was carrying an entire episode, and you have a lot of things to consider when you’re on screen for 20-plus minutes to make it feel lived in.
“In season three, it was about applying those lessons to moments. There’s less of me, but it feels intentional. We’re not thrown into a scene – we’re a carefully considered ingredient.”
Due to the growing demand across Hollywood for the cast and crew, seasons three and four were filmed back to back, which means Boyce and his onscreen found family may be facing an extended break before going in front of the camera again together.
“In the meantime, I want to use this momentum and continue to work," he says. "I want to move forward. I’ve learnt so much from this job, but now I need to apply that to the next thing moving forward. Whether that’s about writing my own things or not, that’s the plan."
Before his breakout performance in The Bear, Boyce had a history of writing. He started his journey in the industry as a member of the Odd Future collective with rapper Tyler the Creator, with whom he created the sketch comedy series Loiter Squad and the animated series The Jellies!
While he can’t say if he and Tyler, who attended season three's premiere together, may be working on something new, he can confirm that his old partner is as proud of Boyce’s growth as he is of himself.
“Oh, yeah, he watches. He loves the show, too,” Boyce says with a smile.
The Bear season three is now streaming on Disney+ in the Middle East
