The Bear’s Molly Gordon Is Manifesting It

PHOTOGPRAHY: Celeste Sloman

STYLED BY: Yael Quint

It’s tough being anyone in Carmy Berzatto’s life, especially his (ex) girlfriend. But Molly Gordon is so much more than that, and so is Claire, her character on The Bear. On FX’s award-winning critical and sleeper hit, Gordon plays Claire Dunlap, a doctor and childhood friend of Jeremy Allen White’s Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto. Introduced in the second season, which debuted last summer, Claire is an ambitious, kind woman with a soft-spot for the boiling hot, anxiety-ridden Carmy. Claire’s practicality and warmth offers a major conflict for Carmy that’s central to the internal dilemma that characterizes the series’ third season, which dropped in its entirety in late June. Does Carmy want the chaos of the kitchen or does he want the stability a life with Claire offers?

A theater person through and through, Gordon is living out her dream. She’s always wanted to work in the UK, a vision she shares with The Bear co-star Ayo Edebiri. Right now, she’s filming Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Movie there. Directed by Kyle Balda with a screenplay by Criag Mazin (Chernobyl), the cast is truly a who’s who of the entertainment industry—past, present and future: Hugh Jackman, Nicholas Galitzine, Hong Chau, Nicholas Braun (Succession), Conleth Hill (Game of Thrones), and, vitally, one of Gordon’s heroes, Emma Thompson. Gordon co-driected, co-wrote, and co-starred in 2023’s cult comedy hit Theater Camp, a Wet Hot American Summer-esque satire of theater kids (or more accurately adults). She’s also slated to direct Small Parts, an 80’s-inspired film she wrote for Searchlight. 

While Gordon rapidly carves her niche in the entertainment industry, she’s also cemented herself as a bonafide fashion girly. She’s appeared at shows for Valentino, Thom Browne, and more. Gordon was recently the star of a Vogue Beauty Secrets video of which Gordon says, “I was literally like, Why are they letting me? Everyone in my life texted me being like, ‘Putting on a skin tint after the eyeliner? Really interesting, Molly.’ But whatever, that's who I am and I feel like it was the most honest Vogue video maybe.”

Gordon sat down with L’OFFICIEL to talk The Bear, life in Chicago, working with the Emma Thompson, fashion, the pros and cons of directing, her favorite spots in New York, and more. 

L’O: What's your favorite place in New York?

MG: That's so hard. I mean, I call Bar Pisellino Bar Piss, I call it Bar Pis, and I love going to Bar Piss and then putting my name down and waiting six hours and getting drunk and then going to Pia. It's so special. And then I love Miss Ada in Fort Greene. I love Rucola in Boerum Hill. Shout out to the store Outline in Boerum Hill, too. The food in New York, it's always this conversation, New York versus LA Food. I just don't want to have that conversation. They're both really good, and they're both different.

L’O: Have you learned anything from working with Emma Thompson [on Three Bags Full]?

MG: She just is so present and open, no bullshit and is so kind to everyone. It's beautiful to see someone at her level still be such a team player. Ihe's  not afraid to make fun of herself, and just take the piss out of herself and to try anything. As I get to—knock on wood—continue to work in this business, it's beautiful to be reminded of just letting go and not taking yourself too seriously, just being free. And as I've gotten older, I'll get a little bit more nervous and lose that childlike, uninhibited quality. She's such a reminder to never lose that.

L’O: You're a little bit similar. In addition to acting, she writes and directs.

MG: I watched Sense and Sensibility before I did this with her because I'm such a big fan. I've asked her, "What's it like to navigate writing and acting?” She's like, "Just do both. Just navigate it and they feed each other."

L’O: How does this shoot compare to The Bear?

MG: It's been really lovely and very different than The Bear to work on something with CGI. The Bear is the reality of life and similar to other things I want to make as a filmmaker. Now, I'm on a project where you act opposite something that isn't there. That's been really fun to learn how to do that because it's such a different skill.

L’O: Have you gotten used to CGI acting? How did you feel about it when you were first doing that?

MG: The first day, I definitely was like, Do I look crazy? I'm talking to myself. I'm on a farm, I'm talking to myself. But now I've gotten the hang of it. I've always wanted to work in England and last summer, I spent a lot of time here. My childhood best friend lives here, and then Ayo and I went on a trip here last summer spontaneously, so we were both hoping to manifest working here. It's been really cool. 

L’O: I just watched the entire third season of The Bear in one sitting, as always. There's this very intimate scene between Claire and Carmy where you're both talking about how you like Mondays. How does it feel filming these really intimate scenes that have a lot of close-ups that are just so emotional and raw?

MG: Chris [Storer] creates such a free space to be a real human being and connect with each other. Unfortunately, the thing that is hardest sometimes is to be a real person on camera, because there's all this other shit going on. The director can sometimes create a space where you can't just drop into the reality of connecting with someone.  Chris just knows how to bring together people crew-wise that want to live in that space, and also actor-wise. His direction is just how to be the most real as possible, and Jeremy [Allen White] is such a beautiful person to share the screen with. He's so curious and loving and kind. But that scene felt almost like a play. It's a testament to Chris that he can make that intimacy feel so real, because sometimes it can still feel very stylized.

L’O: And what does Carmy represent and mean to Claire? Is there something about his spontaneity and chaos that's interesting to her?

MG: I'm sure it's like opposites attract and there's a lot of that, but I also think there is a version of Carmy that she loves. She wishes that he could meet her on the bridge and knows that they could have a really beautiful relationship. But the question is, is that something that he wants to do? Does he want to push himself to actually attempt to be close to someone? Claire is now at a point where she doesn't want to just believe in someone's potential. It'll be interesting whatever happens either way. Many of us ladies have been with men that are wonderful. We love them and they're incredible, but maybe they can't be the person that we want them to be. Even though we know that they could, they just don't want to do that. I'm not sure if he's capable of meeting her at this moment. 

L’O: The Bear is so lived-in. It feels like a show that's like five, six seasons in… You really know some these side characters so well and get excited to see them.

MG: It does feel like it's been on for 10 years. I'm invested in everyone's backstory. I think what the show is trying to explore with Jeremy's character, is just really interesting, because with our generation and the pressures of social media and all this stuff, to have everything figured out when you're really young... I don't know. A lot of people have a really hard time navigating that and navigating a relationship. Sometimes your partners at work, you can feel more connected to than your girlfriend or boyfriend at home or whatever. It's just a hard time to navigate all those things in our culture, in our economy, and all of this stuff. That's the reality of being young right now or being in your early 30s. My boomer parents rejected their parents and got married later. Then my generation, we're all navigating what it means to be an adult. What age do we really come of age? It's bringing up interesting conversations about all that stuff.

L’O: The Bear does tap into this very specific millennial experience that a lot of us can relate to, especially those i creative fields. Were you privy to any of the guest stars of the season?

MG: We were shooting a lot of different stuff at the same time, so I got to see some of them. It's always a really fun secret to keep. It's so fun that Olivia Colman or any of these legends will come for a day or two, and I get to walk by them.

L’O: Olivia Colman is the best ever.

MG: I will forever be like, I can't believe that I'm on this, that I got to be on the same show as her at all. Even though our characters don't interact, I'm like, Where is the Chef Terry, Claire storyline? 

L’O: I screamed when I saw Josh Hartnett. I ride or die Josh Hartnett, had since I was a teen. That was very pleasing to me.

MG: We were all so excited when he was in the hair trailer. It was very pleasant.

L’O: Can you tell me a little bit about the movie, Small Parts, that you're directing?

MG: It's based, it's like a reimagining of a Bette Midler movie that I've always loved. I think that the new take is really fun and is a combination of the cheeky comedies that I loved in the '80s, mixed with a kind of road movie.

L’O: When do you start filming that?

MG: I don't know. I feel I have rested enough to direct again, which just means that I've gotten  two hours more of sleep. Theater Camp was an amazing experience, but with the Sundance deadline and all that stuff... it was challenging. I felt like I needed a year or two to sleep more than the half hour that I slept that year.

L’O: Directing is basically a creative job and a management job. It's working your entire brain all the time.

MG: Directing Theater Camp was amazing and I can't believe I get the chance to do it again.. Like what Emma's been saying, acting is a dream film school, because I got to be back on The Bear and watch how Chris was navigating those episodes. Then now I'm on this movie that is a big studio film and I get to learn from our director. It's this way to keep learning as you're resting up for the next one. Our industry is still in such an odd place, so I'm just so lucky that I'm going to get to make something else and that I'm working in this moment. I hope that we continue to have more things in production , because it's just been such a weird moment of slowdown.