The Bear star Ayo Edebiri, Emmy nomination predictions, more in EW's The Awardist

"I'm really not a winner."

She laughs after making the comment, but months later, Ayo Edebiri is still trying to process her Best Supporting Breakthrough honor at the Spirit Awards for her work on FX's The Bear. "I'm very happy for all the things that have happened," she says on EW's The Awardist podcast, admitting she's used to "second place spelling bee sort of vibes."

That's all changing. The Bear was summer 2022's hottest new series — fitting given that the show is largely set around the kitchen of a Chicago sandwich shop. After years spent in fine dining and being awarded Michelin stars for his work, Jeremy Allen White's Carmy returns home to the Windy City to run his brother's restaurant after his death. He hires Edebiri's Sydney to be his new sous chef — what she lacks in experience she makes up for in talent.

On its own, The Bear might've been enough to send her star to new heights, but she also guest-starred on Abbott Elementary as the distant sister to Quinta Brunson's Janine, and she co-wrote a season 4 episode of What We Do in the Shadows (on which she also served as supervising producer) — not to mention varied voice-over work on shows including Big Mouth, Mulligan, and Clone High. In the process, she's collecting nominations left and right, at the SAG, Critics Choice, and WGA Awards among them. To think, she went to NYU to become an English teacher.

Below, read portions of Edebiri's chat with The Awardist about The Bear, Abbott, Shadows, and more.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: When you were at NYU pursuing a degree in teaching, what prompted you to intern at Upright Citizens Brigade and get into improv?

AYO EDEBIRI: I had started doing improv in high school, actually. I'd always loved it. And one of my friends, Mike, we went to this very nerdy, academically geared, you're taking Latin for four years type of school. We were co-presidents of the Improv Club. We would watch UCB videos together — we were so obsessed with it. So I'd always known about it and I'd known that New York was the mecca for that. And when I got to NYU, even though I was studying teaching, I had tried out for a few improv groups on campus, and then I started doing improv in the indie scene in New York. And I just was like, people are like doing this! It was something that, even though I had seen it and I knew that it was real, I hadn't totally ingested it as a truth and something that could have been a truth for me.

For the few years that you were pursuing your teaching degree, did you ever actually get in a classroom? Were you with students?

Yeah, I did. I did student teaching for primary school. And then, when I studied abroad, I studied around London and I did student teaching at a high school in London. And that was a humbling experience. Both experiences were incredibly humbling. [Laughs]

So who's scarier: kids or critics? All due respect to critics…

Ooh. Both have real hurt-feelings potential. I feel like if a critic hurts my feelings, then it's about my work, which is...okay. But I feel like when a student would hurt my feelings, I would just be like, am I really actually dumb? Am I just like pretending to be smart and I'm dumb because a kid asked me why one plus one equals two? And I'm like, just because. [Laughs]

Well, obviously things have been working out just fine with the critics for you, certainly as it pertains to The Bear. At the Spirit Awards earlier this year where you won, you started to get a little emotional toward the end of your speech. What was…

[Laughs] My voice was cracking! Yeah…

Was there something specific in that moment that hit you?

If I think about the show, I can get quite emotional because it's something that I'm just so grateful for in so many ways. It's really a miraculous experience and I'm so proud of all of us in the work that we do and the feelings that we try to put forward. But yeah, it was really — I don't know — humbling to just win something. I'm really not a winner. [Laughs] In my life, historically, I'm very happy for all the things that have happened, but, like, second place spelling bee sort of vibes. So I think I was really shocked.

That first season, we knew we were making something that we were proud of, but it felt almost like an indie or something. And there's so much good TV, there's no guarantee that people will watch anything. And even when people do watch, there's no guarantees that a company or streaming service will keep it on the air [cough] because there's no metrics for these sort of things and that's part of why writers are striking [cough]. So the fact that people responded not just critically but on a cultural level felt nuts and felt really special.

When did you get to meet Jeremy Allen White for the first time?

We met before the pilot. A few weeks before that we were doing a cooking class with each other, so we went to culinary school and that's where we met. At the time, I didn't drive. [Laughs] And he was like, what, you don't drive?! So he drove me home a few times and that was when we first got to know each other. He was like, you really need to get your license. And I was like, yeah, no, for sure, for sure. I did get my license. … He's the best. But there are sometimes moments, even though we're close in age, I'm like, you are like a father and you are like parenting me right now. [Laughs]

There's a very wise presence about him, isn't there?

It's so funny. On the show, there's so much adrenaline and a lot of yelling, but him and Ebon [Moss-Bachrach] are the pinnacles of zen — they're such chill, grounded, steady BPM, low hertz vibes. Especially in season 1, a lot of what I was thinking about was stillness for Sydney. I think she has a lot of anxiety and a lot of energy, but she keeps it very still. I'm somebody who is not that — I move a lot, I've got very long limbs, I love to move them. [Laughs] And especially in my comedy, my stand-up, I'm like always thinking about how my body can take up as much space as possible. And with Sydney, it was a lot of the opposite: How do I move with grace and how do I move with swiftness? How do I move keeping my body small?

I would think it's kind of a dance around those kitchens because they are small, like you said, but everyone has to move in such a way that you're always aware of each other because there are plates of food or hot pans or knives —you don't want to get stabbed. But that happens.

You do. Sometimes you do.

Can we talk about that episode for a second? Episode 7, the single take — there's a lot happening. They find out that the customer Sydney gave the risotto to was a food critic — it was a good review but also an oops moment because it's not on the menu; they're starting to-go service and all of the tickets are coming in because of a setting that Sydney didn't click. And then Sydney accidentally stabs Richie. My anxiety was through the roof watching the episode. Was there anxiety in filming it, or had you rehearsed it so much that you all had the rhythms down?

It's finding that balance of both, that sort of trick of acting: How do you make something that you know feel new? With [creator Christopher Storer] and the way that we shoot, if it started to feel too tight, he would either adjust something or just stop the rehearsal and be like, "Great, we're good on that part, let's move along." There definitely was some anxiety from people just being like, "Wait, we didn't get it perfect." But Chris is very good at knowing that sort of thing. We did four or five takes total. So, it was making sure that we all felt good about what we had and what we were going to work with, but making sure it didn't feel too locked in.

And people couldn't stop talking about it.

It was like a blast to get to do that episode, even though it was definitely daunting. It initially wasn't a one-take episode, so we got it together pretty quickly. ... It was fun having parameters and knowing that we just have one take with our one camera operator, Gary, so let's just put it all on the floor. It felt like a play in moments because we didn't know necessarily where the camera would be…if you were going to be in a shot or not, even if it's your shoulder. So everybody was on the whole time and aware of each other. I just felt like my brain was exploding in the best possible way.

What do you think Sydney's defining moment was in season 1?

When she quit in 7. I look at that moment and I feel like that was more of a breaking point for her. But I really do love when she comes back at the end because I feel like that, to me, is Sydney. She's somebody who wears her heart on her sleeve and wears her effort on her sleeve. She really just wants to be the best that she can be.

In season 2, we know they are renovating the restaurant, and the menu. What does that mean for Sydney? What does that open you up to?

She'll have more responsibility. A lot of season 1 was battling with people. [Laughs] But I think she's more a part of the family in season 2. But even though that's true, it doesn't mean that everything's going to go smoothly. ... She spent so much of her culinary life working for other people, and I think she's excited to get to have more of a say and more of a voice.

And lots of eating you get to do.

There's a lot of eating in the trailer. I was surprised by how much I'm eating. But yeah, there were some moments [filming] season 2 where I was like, I'm really full. I'm really full. [Laughs]

How did Abbott Elementary come about?

I've known Quinta for a while, but I feel like whenever my friends make something, I'll consume it but I'll never ask for a part. And then one day she was just like, "What's your schedule? Is it insane? Because I know it's insane, but how insane is it?" [Laughs] I asked why. She was like, "We've been thinking about you for Ayesha, for Janine's sister — this is sort of their backstory." She was like, "It's going to be an episode that will be funny, but I want somebody who can do some drama." And I was like, I'm scared because I like this show and I know everybody I know likes this show and I don't want anybody to be mad at me that there's some drama in the episode.

Do you hope she comes back?

I obviously hope that she comes back. I'm not going to pitch. I'm going to be a good guest star and be happy. But, you know, if there's a Thanksgiving or Christmas episode…

Spring break. Janine goes on Spring break.

Colorado! ... You pitched it so that works. [Laughs]

I also have to ask about season 4 of What We Do in the Shadows. You were a consulting producer and co-wrote the episode "Private School" with Shana Gohd. They're trying to get Baby Colin into private school but they're saying all the wrong things so Nadja keeps hypnotizing the school headmaster so they can restart the conversation and have a do-over. The entire sequence is so funny. Take me into the process of writing that part, specifically.

I think that might have been in the first draft, but there was something where we were writing or doing our beat sheet and we were getting notes, Shana and I with the producers, and they were like, there's something here with this idea of the hypnotizing. How far can we push that? So then when Shana and I went back to write it, I might have been filming something at the time, so we were on Zoom and Google Talks just talking to each other for hours trying to make each other cry, thinking of the most ridiculous scenarios possible. Can we see the Nadja doll come back? How far can these permutations of relationships go? Are we going to see one of the Impractical Jokers? Like, literally, why not? Let's just see what happens if we write it. [Laughs] We were just really trying to make each other laugh. And then when we gave the script to the producers, they were down and they loved it. I love that show so much. It's one of the funniest shows on TV, period. Getting to be in the writers' room was truly a dream.

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It's no surprise that the limited/anthology series categories are caught up in crime, be them true or fictionalized. Can biopics or even fantasy titles prevail? Let's take a look... By Gerrad Hall

Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
Beef
Fleishman Is in Trouble
George & Tammy
Daisy Jones and the Six

A few of these are anything but a given (Dahmer, Beef, Fleishman) but that leaves four or five others fighting for two remaining spots: Will the true story of country legends George Jones and Tammy Wynette and the fictional story of rock band Daisy Jones and the Six both get an invite to the party? A Small Light — the story of Miep Gies, who helped hide Anne Frank and her family — is running a strong campaign, but Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi are also looking for a last-minute boost after airing last June...though there may be some who, well, resist.

Evan Peters, Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
Steven Yeun, Beef
Michael Shannon, George & Tammy
Taron Egerton, Black Bird
Daniel Radcliffe, Weird: The Al Yankovic Movie
Woody Harrelson, White House Plumbers

Can anyone beat Evan Peters? Perhaps Steven Yeun. They're both locks for nominations. Either way, Netflix wins. Not as easy to predict...

Jessica Chastain, George & Tammy
Ali Wong, Beef
Rachel Weisz, Dead Ringers
Emily Blunt, The English
Lizzy Caplan, Fleishman Is in Trouble
Riley Keough, Daisy Jones and the Six

Jessica Chastain has already won the SAG Award for her work in that Showtime limited series, while Rachel Weisz plays twins, and Ali Wong delivers her best work ever. The big question is whether folks like Emily Blunt and Lizzy Caplan miss out and Riley Keough, Elizabeth Olsen, Dominique Fishback, or Bel Powley slide in. It's a highly competitive category, with no clear winner just yet.

Paul Walter Hauser, Black Bird
Domhnall Gleeson, The Patient
Richard Jenkins, Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
Murray Bartlett, Welcome to Chippendales
Jesse Plemons, Love and Death
Liev Schriber, A Small Light
Young Mazino, Beef
Joseph Lee, Beef

With The White Lotus competing in the drama category this year, it opens up the supporting fields for folks who may have been bumped out otherwise. Last year's winner, Murray Bartlett, will likely find himself with back-to-back nominations (not to mention double nominations, along with one for his guest turn on The Last of Us), and Paul Walter Hauser has already won the Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award for his work as serial killer Larry Hall — but don't count out Domhnall Gleeson for his chilling turn as The Patient.

Niecy Nash-Betts, Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
Claire Danes, Fleishman Is in Trouble
Olivia Colman, Great Expectations
Cherry Jones, Five Days at Memorial
Maria Bello, Beef
Ashley Park, Beef
Lena Headey, White House Plumbers

Like her killer costar, I'm not sure anyone can beat Niecy Nash-Betts for her work in Dahmer, as his wary neighbor.

Because we can't give Jennifer Lawrence another Oscar simply for wearing flip-flops on a Cannes red carpet, here are three other golden breakouts from the annual cinema event's 2023 edition that aren't Martin Scorsese's shoo-in contender Killers of the Flower Moon. By Joey Nolfi

Actresses honoring actresses by playing actresses in prestige cinema is the kind of self-congratulatory cycle the Hollywood awards trail loves to repeat time and time again. Plug Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, and Todd Haynes into the equation, and you've essentially made an Oscar appear out of thin air by default. The trio's latest project — about an actress researching a role about a married couple whose tabloid romance stunned the nation — received near universal acclaim at Cannes and was gobbled up by Netflix for the kind of money ($11 million) that says "we're not letting this movie not get awards attention" when the time is right.

It's been 10 years since Jonathan Glazer disturbed the hell out of everyone (and gave us that amazing meme of Scarlett Johansson falling on concrete) with his horrifying alien mind-bender Under the Skin, but the horrors of his next project are rooted in a much more painful reality. A24 is set to distribute Zone of Interest, a historical drama about Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss attempting to build an idyllic life for his family in a dream home next to the concentration camp. Shortly after its Cannes debut, Interest ranked among the best-reviewed films in Metacritic history and should keep that momentum going once it expands across the festival (and specialty theatrical) circuit come awards time.

Even if you find Wes Anderson's twee storytelling a tad grating, there's no denying that the filmmaker's visionary style is top-notch among his peers. While his ensemble comedy about the oddball goings-on at a desert-based stargazing convention received less than enthusiastic reactions at Cannes, the project's aesthetic should be enough to find the film among the strongest technical contenders of the 2024 Oscar race.

Check out more from EW's The Awardist, featuring exclusive interviews, analysis, and our podcast diving into all the highlights leading up to all the major award shows.

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