Here, Moss-Bachrach talks about making it big on thecomedyseries from executive producer Christopher Storer (Ramy).
DEADLINE: You grew up in Massachusetts.
Do you remember what originally inspired in you the desire to act?
Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Richard ‘Richie’ Jerimovich on ‘The Bear.‘Max Dinerstein/FX
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EBON MOSS-BACHRACH: As a kid, I was always very much an escapist.
I loved my sci-fi books andFlash Gordonand all that kind of stuff.
I dont know how much that played into my acting.
From left: Jeremy Allen White, Lionel Boyce and Ebon Moss-Bachrach onThe Bear.FX on Hulu/Everett Collection
I started to get more into it when I went to college.
Thats when it became something I felt like I really wanted to do.
DEADLINE: Did you study acting when you were at Columbia University?
MOSS-BACHRACH: I wasnt in the theater department.
I took an acting class my freshman year.
DEADLINE: You share a last name with your mom, as well as your dad.
Are you a feminist ally?
MOSS-BACHRACH: I guess.
It wasnt on me [laughs].
They made that decision for me.
I was a prenatal feminist.
DEADLINE: What was your very first job in Hollywood?
Was it the TV movieMurder in a Small Town?
My first job was with Gene Wilder.
He was like an angel.
He gave me the job in the room while we were talking about something else.
I didnt realize even at the time what an amazing gift that was.
MOSS-BACHRACH: I never wanted to make it big.
All I wanted to do was regional theater and plays.
I started so young.
I love this kind of itinerant lifestyle where I dont know what Im going to do next.
DEADLINE: As your career progressed, did you find that you were getting specific kinds of offers?
MOSS-BACHRACH: For a long time, I was playing the best friend.
I was getting a lot of best friends and brothers.
And they all seemed to be a little bit nerdy.
MOSS-BACHRACH: My character didnt come on until the third season.
I was friendly with Jenni Konner and Lena Dunham, so they wrote this part for me.
It was supposed to be a couple of episodes at first.
And then we were having so much fun, they just kept making the part bigger and bigger.
I inherited this kind of cool, zeitgeisty thing.
I never felt like I was pivotal in making it.
I was just sort of tagging onto the coattails of this thing.
DEADLINE: You participated in a much-talked-about oral sex scene involving Allison Williams derriere.
Can you recall the funniest thing that was said about it?
He came up to shake my hand and I probably turned really red.
I was proud of the scene.
Its good to push it and we definitely did on that day.
DEADLINE: What was your initial reaction toThe Bear?
What made you want to do it?
MOSS-BACHRACH: It just felt so true to me.
I never read anything like that before, the writing was just so good.
And Chris Storer had such a keen ear for dialogue and behavior.
DEADLINE: Youve said before that what Richie brings to the restaurant is fairly unclear and vague.
So why the hell is he still there?
MOSS-BACHRACH: I dont know.
Its like your grandmas pot.
The soupsgottabe cooked in that pot, you know?
Otherwise, its not gonna taste the same.
At the same time, youre like, what the hell?
Whats going on with this big pot?
Its ugly and it takes up a lot of room in the kitchen.
Richie is very much the soul of the restaurant.
Hes the front-facing part.
He knows everybodys name.
Hes like community relations.
DEADLINE: The way you guys scream at each other is so funny.
How do you remain in character and not bust out laughing?
MOSS-BACHRACH: It happens sometimes, but Im proud of us.
He doesnt laugh too much.
I have to look away from him, pretend hes somewhere else.
Because if I look at him, were just gonna start laughing.
MOSS-BACHRACH: Chicago is where Chris is from.
Its specific to him and to this story, which is personal in some ways.
So its appropriate that its there.
It takes on this identity of Chicago.
DEADLINE: Are you treated like a god there now?
Can you walk down the street without being mobbed by fans of the show?
MOSS-BACHRACH: I can walk down the street without being mobbed.
I cant say the same for my young friend Jeremy.
MOSS-BACHRACH: You dont have too many options in Hollywood.
You either get rich and famous really quickly or you have to find a way.
My goal was to never become rich and famous.
My goal was to be able to support myself and my family doing what I love to do.
And Ive been able to do that.
So I feel totally great about my career, and I think people recognize that.
Its nice to be recognized for this show that I am really proud of.
I dont feel weird about it at all.
But I also feel very similar to the way I felt a year ago before it even came out.
Does that make any sense?
