Created by Christopher Storer (Ramy, Eighth Grade), the first season of FX’s The Bear debuted on Hulu in 2022. The second season of the series recently premiered on June 22nd. According to Variety, Matty Matheson (It’s Suppertime!, Dead Set on Life) spoke about his role as Neil Fak in The Bear and how acting differs from his career as a chef.
The character Neil Fak is a former restaurant owner and friend of the character Richie Jerimovich, played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach (No Hard Feelings, The Punisher).
As Variety notes, Matheson has had his fair share of experience in the food business as he has appeared on numerous food programs and series on YouTube, such as “Cookin’ Somethin’ W/ Matty Matheson.” He also has been running multiple restaurants in Canada.
In an interview with Variety, Matheson stated, “Acting scares the shit out of me.” He continued, “Acting is really difficult. It’s, like, a lot of hard work. I spent hours trying to remember, like, four lines. As comfortable as I am with everybody, and how helpful everybody is, you want to show up prepared and ready to rock with everybody else — and everyone else is so good. It’s very nerve-wracking for me, personally.”
The premise of The Bear revolves around Carmen Berzatto, played by Jeremy Allen White (Shameless, The Iron Claw). After his brother passes away, Carmen is in charge of taking over his sandwich shop in Chicago. Other stars of the show include Ayo Edebiri (Bottoms, Abbott Elementary) as Sydney Adamu, Abby Elliott (Odd Mom Out, Clara’s Ghost) as Natalie Berzatto, and more.
In the second season of The Bear, characters like Carmen, Sydney, and Richie had episodes dedicated to exploring more of their backstories. In relation to this, Matheson told Variety, “To have a whole episode around me — I don’t know. I’m just happy to be here.”
While being an actor in the series, Matheson has also worked behind the scenes alongside the first-time culinary producer Courtney Storer. He stated, “Coco and I, we worked together in detail. So I’m writing a menu, and she’s writing a menu.”
He went on to explain how the conversations that Courtney and him had along with the dishes they would produce helped inspire and make sense of the dynamic between the characters Carmen and Sydney.
In regards to what is next for The Bear, Matheson told Variety, “I’m just looking forward to making it and hanging out with everybody again. It’s one of those things that’s obviously going in chronological order — a natural progression. Ain’t nothing written, so, who knows? When Chris or Joanna ask me for some input, then I’ll know something. But I think that’s a couple months away, for sure.”
Audiences can see Matty Matheson’s role as Neil Fak in The Bear and see how his own culinary knowledge has influenced the series.