The Bear: Bob Odenkirk Has High Praise For His Experience Guest-Starring On The Series
After Season 1 of "The Bear" was met with critical acclaim and massive buzz, actors fought tooth and nail to join the cast for Season 2. "I had a young man send me a tape of himself making scrambled eggs," casting director Jennifer Rudnicke told Vulture. "It was literally just a video in his kitchen of him begging to be on the show. We kept getting submissions like that."
Huge stars were just as interested, and the 2nd season assembled an eye-popping assortment of talent — particularly in the ensemble Christmas episode, "Fishes." A who's who of actors cameo as various members of the Berzatto clan, including Jamie Lee Curtis as the family matriarch, Gillian Jacobs, John Mulaney, Sarah Paulson, plus Jon Bernthal returning as Michael. Bob Odenkirk also joined for a brief but incendiary turn as Uncle Lee.
Odenkirk is no stranger to drama, best seen in his Emmy-nominated performance on "Better Call Saul." For Odenkirk, shooting Episode 6 of "The Bear" was "the greatest experience" since "Better Call Saul" wrapped in 2022.
"Everybody was there to kick ass, to play," the actor told Deadline, making sure to praise the series' lead. "Jeremy Allen White just sets a tone of professionalism and respect between everyone."
Odenkirk gushed over The Bear's respectful environment
"Fishes" is intense, to say the least, and one of the main sources of that intensity is Bob Odenkirk's Uncle Lee. Lee and Michael are at each other's throats throughout the evening. Lee (acting like a real "jagoff," to use Chicago parlance) calls Michael a drug-addled failure, and Michael responds with fiery bursts of violence at the dinner table, culminating with him flipping the table upside down.
For Odenkirk, the entire experience was an exercise in mutual respect. "Everyone respected each other, every one of those actors, and [creator] Chris Storer runs a set that allows for freedom to discover, and invent, and bring things to life," he continued in the same Deadline interview. Ultimately, each actor — both the series regulars and the new "Bear" characters – worked to elevate their peers. "Our greatest dream is that everybody else in the scene looks f**king awesome, and that was just such a joy to do."
That joy may not exactly be evident among all the intense staring and fork throwing, but Jon Bernthal concurred that the sense of trust on set made the episode possible. He also loved having Odenkirk as a sparring partner. "With Bob, I'm such a huge fan of his," Bernthal told Variety. "I thought it was just such a perfect choice. He was so down to come at me, and vice versa! When you have an environment like that, everyone is willing to be a little bit dangerous, because there's so much trust. There's so much love and everybody's so dedicated."