In a season already jam-packed with big-name guest stars like Olivia Colman, Sarah Paulson and Bob Odenkirk, Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis stole the show as Carmen Berzatto's mother Donna on The Bear.
Viewers first met Curtis' Donna Berzatto in Season 2's sixth installment, the critically acclaimed "Fishes" episode, which flashes back approximately five years. We see Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) return from Copenhagen to Chicago to spend Christmas with his family and friends, including his intense, alcoholic mother. Curtis' Donna would later memorably pop up in that eventful season 2 finale.
So exactly how did The Bear land Curtis—who got emotional when discussing the role with CinemaBlend this past July—to play the Berzatto matriarch in the Hulu hit?
How The Bear Cast Jamie Lee Curtis As Carmy's Mom:
Co-casting directors Jeanie Bacharach and Maggie Bacharach talked to Entertainment Weekly about how that star-studded "Fishes" episode came about. The women "didn't want it to suddenly become Friends or whatever," with The Bear becoming bogged down by stunt casting. However, given how "heightened" the episode felt, they naturally gravitated to people who felt "larger than life," like Curtis. Jeanie said:
We wanted heavy hitters but it wasn't about, 'Let's go get a bunch of famous people for this episode.' It's just how it unfolded. The episode is heightened, and I think it was really important that these people feel larger than life, and so that just inevitably led to being people who were more well-known.
Jeanie and Maggie noted how important it was to get the casting of Donna correct and how they graciously had the season 2 scripts ahead of time so they could really get a sense of the character. As Jeanie put it:
We also knew about the Donna character in the first season, and in working on it and talking to [showrunners Christopher Storer and Joanna Calo] about the world of the show, we just started having fun making idea lists [of actors]...It was really important to understand that destructiveness, the mental health issue, the addiction issue, and this brokenness—she can't help but sabotage everything. But also the pain underneath all of that. It was a lot to consider.
Though the co-casting directors considered many "wonderful, wonderful actress," once Jamie Lee Curtis' name came up in the Donna discussions, it was "so obvious" that she was the right performer for the "nerve wracking" role. Jeanie continued:
There's all these wonderful, wonderful actresses, but we just had to get it right because she is the center of it. We had a lot of discussions talking over this wish list of dream actors, drilling down on each person in terms of: Do they bring all the qualities? Can they be both ugly and heartbreaking? Do they have the right level of comedy and gravitas? That was the most nerve wracking [role to cast].
Adding to that, Maggie said:
It's a pretty incredible group of women in that age category, and there's no shortage of creativity in terms of where you can go. But once Jeannie was like, 'What about Jamie Lee Curtis?' It was so obvious.
However, at the time, Jamie Lee Curtis was heavy on the promo tour for Everything Everywhere All at Once, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2023. So the team initially went to Michelle Pfeiffer and Melanie Griffith with offers, but both actresses passed, leading them back to their original idea of Curtis.
Why Jamie Lee Curtis Decided To Join The Bear Season 2:
Luckily for The Bear crew, the horror-movie icon was already "a huge fan" of the show. Jeanie told the outlet:
I heard in an interview after the season had aired that, during the first season when she was watching, they mentioned the mother character, and she said to whoever she was watching with, 'I'm going to play that role,' which we never heard until way after the fact. She knew!
Clearly, Curtis ended up accepting the offer, and the casting directors praised her interpretation of Carmy's mother, calling the actress "a total pro." Jeanie stated:
She really clearly understood the dysfunction and addiction and that behavior. She just showed up on set, had done her work, and was a total pro, just willing to put it all out there and be ugly and raw.
The Bear Season 3 has officially been greenlit, but it still remains to be seen if Jamie Lee Curtis will return as Donna Berzatto in the chef-focused show. The last we see of her character (spoilers ahead!), she's standing outside The Bear restaurant for the soft opening of the restaurant but is too afraid to go in. Maybe she'll finally get to experience Carmy and Co's cooking next season? We shall see.
