Ayo Edebiri and Jeremy Allen White‘s chemistry is palpable on The Bear, but their connection extends even further than what’s shown on screen.
The costars gushed over their close working relationship in Edebiri’s June 2024 Vanity Fair cover story published online Tuesday, May 21. “We really enjoy each other in life, on camera and off camera. I have a tremendous amount of respect for her as a person, but also as an artist,” White, 33, told the outlet, noting that he hopes the duo’s bond “shines through” between their characters, Carmy and Sydney.
“Syd is always able to … I don’t know, to deliver something different to Carmy, and she’s usually right,” he added. “And I guess I think Ayo is also usually right.”
Edebiri, 28, offered her own perspective on their strong friendship. “Work can be a very intimate thing and a very personal thing and a very emotional thing,” she explained. “And I think when you’re also in industries that are creative or creative adjacent, I think there’s something that also invokes feelings of passion.”
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The actress went on to quip, “Also, boy’s got some beautiful blue eyes. You know what I mean? Those are eyes you want to project onto.”
The Bear viewers are torn about whether Carmy and Sydney’s relationship should go from platonic to romantic next season — the show is set to return in June — and some fans have even begun to obsess over their real-life friendship. Earlier this week, social media was sent into a frenzy with footage of the cast in the stands at a Chicago Cubs game. White and Edebiri sat next to one another, and at one point, he was caught gently rubbing her back.
Since the show’s debut in 2022, the costars have fielded a few awkward questions about their offscreen status. When White stripped down for a Calvin Klein ad earlier this year, the steamy campaign was all anyone could ask Edebiri about at the Golden Globe Awards.
“That’s my boy, you know what I mean?” she teased during a red carpet interview with Access in January after being shown an NSFW pic of White. “I do feel like I want people to understand he’s my coworker.”
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The Bear won big at the awards show, and while celebrating their night with Extra backstage, the Calvin Klein questions continued.
“I have a really serious question to ask you all,” a reporter began, to which Edebiri could be heard saying under her breath, “I feel like I know what it is.”
An enlarged photo from White’s underwear shoot was brought out on camera, and Edebiri attempted to shut down the discussion. “I’m putting it away for my boy! That’s my boy,” she joked, emphasizing, “This is a work function!”
When it comes to the future of Carmy and Sydney’s relationship, Edebiri previously called fans’ theories about a potential romance “frustrating.”
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“It’s really not our thought process when we’re making the show, and I understand it can be part of a show’s culture — but I don’t think they’re going to get what they want,” she told The Hollywood Reporter last year. “I think it’s incredibly cool to have this dynamic onscreen that isn’t romantic, but that feels charged and sexy.”
While Carmy explored a relationship with his childhood friend Claire (Molly Gordon) in season 2, Edebiri doesn’t think the character is meant to have a love story.
“It’s TV, do you want to see Walter White go to therapy and then reunite with his family?” she joked. “I love this little f—ked up guy in the kitchen.”
