Before The Bear became a sleeper hit for FX on Hulu, the Jeremy Allen White series set in the Chicago restaurant world originally started out as a feature film. However, as The Bear bounced around Hollywood, it evolved into a series, which was clearly a good call. The show is now in its second season, and fans can’t get enough of White’s chef.
As for why The Bear made the leap from film to TV series, showrunner Joanna Caro walked The Hollywood Reporter through the decision process for chopping up the experience:
The half-hour discussion had happened before I was there. But Chris and I really stayed true to what we wanted the voice to be. … It’s like, would you really want to be in that kitchen for more than half an hour at a time? I think you need a little credit break to get you through. These things were honestly just told to us, and we were so grateful that FX wanted to make the show that we were like, “OK, yeah, sure.”
However, Caro also revealed that the creative team still approached The Bear‘s first season story like a film.
“I think we often tried to think of it as still just one big feature,” Caro said. “And so how could we tell the story without hitting people over the head with it? Is it a different experience to just live in this kitchen and get lost in the food and letting the food represent connection between these people as if you’re making a musical and there’s a dance number.”
The Bear Season 1 and 2 are available for streaming on Hulu.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)