The West Wing cast was known for being incredibly good at delivering Aaron Sorkin’s fast-paced dense dialogue all while walking. On The Bear, they take the idea of a walk and talk and turn up the volume, literally. So, when I interviewed Ebon Moss-Bachrach about his show that is mentioned many times on the 75th Emmy winners list, I had to ask about what their scripts look like, and how The Bear cast goes about performing all the yelling and fast-talking that’s in the show.
Long before Season 3 of The Bear was announced, and the show cleaned up at the Emmys that aired on the 2024 TV schedule, I interviewed Ebon Moss-Bachrach about Richie and Season 2 of the beloved FX dramedy. While we talked about what fuels Cousin and how incredible Jeremy Allen White is as Carmy, we also chatted about the logistical side of the show, specifically the scripts. Anyone who has seen this series knows there’s a lot of yelling, screaming and talking over each other, and Moss-Bachrach explained to CinemaBlend what that looks like on the page:
So the stuff that's written where it's like on top of each other, it will be two things written at once, the pagination will kind of change a little bit, which I think is a pretty standard protocol for writing people speaking at the same time I found.
As Ebon Moss-Bachrach said, when they get the script, all that yelling is in there, and the moments where characters are talking over each other are written too, it’s not typically off the cuff.
Many beloved shows and movies are known for doing this too, like the aforementioned West Wing, which Aaron Sorkin famously wanted performed word perfect. These scenes are choreographed masterpieces, and it’s all because of how the actors deliver the precisely written dialogue.
You can see this in effect in the Season 2 finale of The Bear which shows the restaurant in full action and centers around Ayo Edebiri rattling off order after order in an epic one-take. However, while the script is typically the Bible, according to the first-time Emmy winner, it’s also not the end-all-be-all as he said:
And then is there room for improv? Yeah, like a little bit. I would say like 95, at least percent of what is said is the stuff on the page. But that said, they're not like overly precious. It's not like Aaron Sorkin land where if you say an ‘oh’ instead of an ‘aw’ you're in big trouble. They're relaxed about small changes.
So, while the majority of what The Bear cast says is scripted, they also have opportunities to put their own spins on it. However, for the most part, as Ebon Moss-Bachrach put it, what looks like chaos on screen is actually meticulously planned and choreographed dialogue. And honestly, that makes The Bear even more impressive and 100% deserving of its Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series Emmy.
To see these brilliant scripts and actors, including Ebon Moss-Bachrach, in action, you can stream The Bear with a Hulu subscription.
