![]() ![]() ![]() “Everything that you could want from a person was in the text, but he still found so much to play with,” she adds. “He just dropped in and he was so tender and so real, and I feel like there’s so many nuances that you can feel about he and Sydney’s relationship that aren’t spoken,” she says. With no tangible answer to that longstanding question, Edebiri continues adding stems to Townsend’s metaphorical bouquet. How do we stop having that conversation and just do it?” “There’s so much incredible Black talent and it’s annoying that the conversation is always that they’re not getting their flowers. I feel like that reckoning is happening, which is really exciting and so well-deserved, but also why every time when we’re having conversations about this narrative, is it, ‘Why hasn’t he gotten his flowers?’ There’s that frustration as well,” she admits. “People realize that they need to recognize the stature of non-white directors in the film canon. Everything about it I love.”įor Edebiri, who passionately upholds Townsend’s status as a legend, the hope is that the industry will return that same level of endearment for his contributions to cinema. “There are certain actors who have been in the game, and they’ve seen everything, been to every premiere, every whatever, and they get a little jaded. “I love this,” Townsend says as he reflects on his longevity as an entertainer. They’re all trying to find their way in life.”Īs a thespian who jokingly describes himself as “such a little snob,” the role is the first he’s come across in a long time that made him want to step back in front of the camera after directing episodes of TV shows such as Kaleidoscope, American Soul and The Wonder Years, most recently. I’m part of this man, because I have four children and I have these same discussions. “Once I read the script, I was like, ‘Oh, I know who this man is. Like the cans with the money in it from season one, it comes together.”Īs a father, Townsend personally relates to Emmanuel. “You’re driven for whatever reasons to create whatever you’re going to create and you’re hoping and praying that it will come together, and somehow it does. There are so many people that have this dream, this goal, this passion, this desire, and they’re fighting with that idea to give birth, and this gives hope to all those dreamers,” he says. “The reason I think it’s so successful is that it speaks to the world. On Rotten Tomatoes, season one currently holds a 91 percent audience score and a 100 percent rating on the Tomatometer. It’s moments like those captured in the dining room of Emmanuel’s two-bedroom apartment, which Sydney moves into to keep a roof over her head while opening The Bear with Carmy, that Townsend believes have created such loyal viewership. “He wanted to be an actor and he was so game and humble in that way.” “I remember being nervous and then him showing up and being like, ‘Let’s play,’” she recalls. That scene in episode nine was actually the first Edebiri and Townsend shot together. And when they reached out, it was the best gift ever.” So, I was like, ‘Yes, yes and yes.’ In show business, sometimes you have these beautiful, wonderful gifts that show up. What’s going to happen next?’ And then my agent gets a call and said, ‘They want to know if you would want to play Sydney’s father,’ and I was like, ‘Are you joking?’ This is one of the best written, directed and produced shows on television. I was like, ‘I can’t wait for next season. “I was the biggest fan of The Bear before I was even thinking about being considered for the role,” Townsend tells THR. ![]() As it turns out, the Chicago native who also directed Eddie Murphy Raw, which remains the highest-grossing stand-up comedy concert film three decades after its 1987 release, had his eye on the FX series too. Townsend, who got his start in Hollywood with an uncredited role in the 1975 coming-of-age drama Cooley High and wrote, directed and starred in ‘90s cult classic films The Five Heartbeats and Meteor Man, was already on Storer’s shortlist of names to portray Sydney’s father, Emmanuel Adamu. “There’s just so much that he did that I love and that I have so much fondness for, and I know I’m not the only one.”Įdebiri was right. “I owe him a debt and I think so many Black multi-hyphenates, and multi-hyphenates in general, do because he was such a trailblazer and so excellent, whether he was in front of the camera or behind the camera, or doing content for adults or for kids,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter. 'The Bear': Inside Sydney's Food Tour and Season 2's Love Letter to Chicago ![]()
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