Liza Colón-Zayas (‘The Bear’) on the ‘dream come true’ of being on a show ‘that sticks to authenticity without any toxicity’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
It still feels surreal to Liza Colón-Zayas that she’s finally made it – that she’s become the proverbial overnight success after more than 30 years of doing TV guest turns and off-Broadway stage roles. Suddenly, she’s a name thanks to her SAG Award-nominated performance as the fiery line cook-turned-sous chef Tina Marrero on “The Bear.” After what she estimates were a thousand rejections for different roles and being a part of series pilots that went nowhere, she finally struck gold on a show that “caught on like wildfire,” in her words. “It still feels surreal,” Colón-Zayas marvels. “I had reached a point of acceptance. Every once in a blue moon, I’d get something really groovy. But I didn’t expect anything. I gave up on this. I was fueled (to keep going) by not only the belief in me of others I respected, but also just being spiteful that I’m going to stay in. You’re not going to run me out of town.” Watch the exclusive video interview above.
And then “The Bear” happened. While shooting the pilot, Colón-Zayas knew she was having a great time along with everyone else but still couldn’t come close to predicting what was to come. “It speaks to the brilliance of (creator-showrunner) Chris Storer and the rest of the writers,” she says. “Even so, we got very lucky. There are many great artists and storytellers out there, but this time the stars aligned. And to bring it all together with people who are so kind and generous has been a dream come true. I mean, we’ve got the best people. There’s the care and attention to detail. Everyone is just really nice to each other, and meticulous. It tells me that you can have a show that sticks to authenticity without any toxicity.”
In terms of portraying Tina, Colón-Zayas marvels that what the writers were giving her flowed from day one. “There was a moment in the second episode (of Season 1) where I wasn’t sure (it was working) because I didn’t know anything about Tina. And I was like, ‘I just want to make sure she’s not like this all the time,’ and they were like, ‘Trust us.’ And I was like, ‘OK, cool.’ We talked out my concerns and that’s been it. I just knew I was in good hands.”
Colón-Zayas’ role was enhanced in the show’s second season, culminating in the fifth episode, “Pop,” during which Tina is sent to train in culinary school in advance of the restaurant’s evolution into a fine-dining establishment. In reality, the actress trained with an actual five-star chef, David Waltuck, creator of the renowned SoHo eatery Chanterelle. Colón-Zayas calls Waltuck “a lovely, kind, very patient person to work with.” She also worked with “The Bear’s” culinary producer Courtney Storer, sister of creator Chris. “Pretty much any dish you see me making, I was trained at least in the most basic steps of preparation and plating,” she emphasizes.
The other part of “Pop” in which Tina stands out was significantly more frightening for Colón-Zayas. She’s dragged to a karaoke bar to sing the Freddy Fender classic “Before the Next Teardrop Falls.” She saw it in the script “and I proceeded to have an existential crisis,” she admits. Why? “Because I don’t sing. I mean, secretly in the shower I like to sing, but I don’t do that in public. So I originally thought I was being punk’d when it was mentioned. And then I saw the script.” Of course, she needn’t have worried, as what she delivers in the show is powerful and moving and no one would have the first clue she wasn’t a singer. She was reassured by Storer before the scene that it wasn’t about Tina singing well but stepping outside her comfort zone.
“Sometimes it’s better to just dive in and trust and figure it out,” she says, “and it all made sense later when I started hearing the responses from people.”
In terms of what’s coming up for Tina in Season 3, Colón-Zayas naturally isn’t at liberty to say much. She it’s already been leaked that star Ayo Edebiri makes her directorial debut in an episode where Tina is a focal point. “We are going to understand why Tina is the way she is,” she offers. “It’s a fantastic, beautiful episode. I didn’t know it was coming. I saw the script and I started crying.”
The first two seasons of “The Bear” from FX stream on Hulu. Season 3 drops in its entirety on June 27.
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