Five Fits With: 'The Bear' Creator Chris Storer
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For this week’s Five Fits With, I got to take a bit of a peek under the hood of one of my current favorite television shows, The Bear, which premiered on Hulu last night. I met with creator Christopher Storer at his New York office, and had the pleasure sharing takeout Peter Luger burgers with some of the creative team behind the brilliant hit. Though they’re a group of folks making one of television’s most poignant and truthful portrayals of what it is to work in a kitchen, they are humble, chill—almost as enthused to meet me as I am them. It’s surreal. I started this column years ago as a concept on a blog and what it’s blossoming into is the stuff of my young adult dreams.
The Bear is FX’s most watched comedy series in history, which is particularly impressive if you think for a moment about the stream of ingenious comedies they’ve managed to produce over the last decade—though calling it a comedy doesn’t seem weighted enough to convey the rollercoaster of emotions the show buffets its viewer with. Below, Storer and I discuss trying to make it in L.A., growing up around family and friends in the restaurant business, the synergy between Thom Browne’s collars and the seriousness of the character Sydney, and plenty more.
Fit One
Let’s talk a bit about your background, and how you found your way into producing, writing, and directing.
I grew up in Chicago and I think when I was in high school, I really started to want to explore film as a career, but I didn't know how real that was. And I knew I wanted to move out to L.A. That seemed to be where movies and TV were made. So, after high school I took a year off and I saved some money by working at the Board of Trade in Chicago. I finally saved enough to get out to L.A. only to realize that it's packed with everyone wanting to do exactly what you want to do, which lowers the odds of getting to do what you want to do. To make ends meet I was working as an office manager at Fred Segal, Santa Monica. I got to work with a bunch of really creative designers that were there and I started to learn a lot about fashion. Meanwhile I had just been PA-ing and I was lucky enough to meet a couple of filmmakers that all gave me some really great advice, which was to try to make or write whatever you can as much as you can.
You already discussed The Bear with Esquire, but I'm curious as to how much research you did to make sure that your show lands in the way that it does. What was the preparation like in crafting the world of The Bear?
A lot of my friends and family members are in the restaurant business, either as cooks, or front-of-house, or they own or operate restaurants, so we were very lucky to have an entry point. My sister is a chef who had really been through it in terms of rising the ranks of a kitchen. My dear friend Chris Zucchero’s family-owned Mr. Beef and I had spent a lot of time there growing up, so I think I realized pretty early on that it was a really difficult, really demanding job and at the same time it attracts a certain kind of personality. There's a certain amount of chemistry that happens within it. It's a business that can become very toxic and very intense, but also very loving and very kind, which really made for a perfect setting for a TV show.
Fit Two
How much of the wardrobe and character style do you envision when you start writing for new projects?
I think about it a lot, but I also love talking about it with the actors. I think the coolest thing, especially on The Bear, is that Ayo [Edibiri], in particular, really had some great ideas about what Sydney would wear. She actually wears a lot of Thom Browne shirts. That collar was so straight and there was something about Sydney's character that made her feel really, really professional. In this upcoming season, Abby wears a lot of Matty [Mattheson]'s line, and it looks awesome on her. We had a lot of fun thinking about what Richie would wear given the arc his character goes through in Season 2. We talked about Vincent Hanna in Heat a lot. Courtney Wheeler, our costume designer, is a genius and has a really incredible insight to who these characters are. I think getting into talking about it with actors, they've come up with this backstory that's even different from mine, which is really exciting. I’m super lucky to be able to work on the show with my friends. They often have much better ideas. It’s also a lot of fun because we're able to sneak in a lot of our favorite designers throughout the show.
Is it important for there to be so much world building that you know what characters’ styles are, or is it on a lesser rung of concern?
It’s a huge concern. Not only is it basic storytelling on one level, but I also think it informs the actor. For example, in The Bear when they have the blue aprons on, I can feel how seriously in tune they are with not only their characters but their role in the kitchen and the way they move and the way they interact. I can’t say enough how much I love our cast, dude. They’re so very special. So much of the world building comes from the shorthand we’ve built with each other. Especially in Season 2 as we start to see more of these people outside the restaurant, or in Abby’s case, inside the restaurant. We also get to see Carmy go to a high school party, which was fun to think about how different that felt from the rest of the show.
Fit Three
You told me earlier that you shoot the show really quickly, which is particularly insane to me given the rawness of the characters’ interactions and performances. Plus they’re actually cooking and working the kitchen right? Just how quickly do you shoot, and how do you manage to do so with so many moving parts?
We shoot our show really quick. All in, I think it’s about 39 days a season, so it’s roughly four days an episode. I don’t like to do a lot of takes. There’s something about preserving the nervous energy that’s really important to the show. It’s heavily scripted but there’s enough room for everybody to play and adapt. Once something in the kitchen gets too rehearsed, it can feel a little performative; same with the dialogue. We spend a lot of time after wrap walking through the next day’s blocking so we’re combining as many set-ups as possible, which really lets us hit the ground running. Our crew is amazing—like very amazing—and the camera department is fast as shit. Our actors know how fast we drill and are able to make this thing feel incredibly alive and incredibly nerve-wracking, which isn’t easy. I’m in awe of them every day. That spirit also translates outside the kitchen. Like this year for the Christmas flashback, we would just roll for 15 minutes at a time and drill through 10 pages. It was also great having Ayo on set with me that week—she’s going to direct a few episodes next year so she was an important set of fresh eyes. She and I, and our showrunner Joanna, often just yell a bunch of shit out so we can keep rolling. Honestly, if our actors weren’t spectacular across the board we wouldn’t be able to make the show this way.
I see photos of you on and off the set. You're always dressed well. Do location or setting ever change how you dress?
When I worked at the Board of Trade, they had a dress code; you had to wear a shirt and tie. You would see some pretty funny combinations—dudes just throwing a wrinkled tie they’d kept in their broker’s coats over a golf shirt. Iconic. There was something about getting in that mindset every morning that I found, for whatever reason, calming. I feel like waking up in the morning, putting on a shirt and tie, helps set a tone for me. I feel like I'm going to work.
Fit Four
How have you honed your personal style over time?
I like routine, dude. I own a hundred of the same kind of tie—which is just a knit tie—and white shirts and slacks. That’s why Thom Browne's someone I really admire a lot. I think the more I hear him talk about his personal passion—it is about routine and comfort and respect and all those things—it makes me feel good. The time it takes to tie a tie, put on an ironed shirt every morning, really gets me in this head space of, "I'm very lucky to do this job." But there's something about getting ready for it every day that feels special to me in some strange way. It’s also why we were so pumped to get Thom Browne to be a part of the show this season.
Can you elaborate about your introduction to fashion? What was the first higher-ticket item that you purchased?
It definitely was working at Fred Segal in Santa Monica. I think it was 2011. My boss at the time, Alonzo Ester, was one of the most creative people I'd ever been around. He put a lot of vintage items in the store, a lot of military-inspired vintage pieces. I was always taken by these old chinos that we would find. They were always too short. I would be like, "Man, I love these Dickies that are cuffed and too short. Someone should make these at a higher level." And he's like, "Someone already beat you to it, dude. Check out this guy Thom Browne." And I started reading about him and thought, "Man, those are definitely special." So the first really expensive item I ever bought myself was a Thom Browne suit.
What prompted the purchase?
It was the first time I got a good paycheck from writing. I know some people buy watches or something and I was like, "No, I want to buy myself a suit," that I still have and love very much.
Fit Five
What are some of your favorite television shows or movies in terms of style, and why?
Mad Men's pretty great, obviously, in terms of routine and what they're wearing every day. I’ve been watching The Other Two, which is great and some of the costumes have been incredible. But I also love Friday Night Lights. I thought they did such a good job of capturing the coming of age through Texas. Everything felt characteristically accurate on that show. I love looking at some of David O. Russell's movies. I think The Fighter is so great. The clothing in The Godfather Part II is unbelievable. What Robert Duvall's wearing, specifically, is tremendous and says so much about who Tommy is. We had so much fun this season on the flashback episode, particularly with Bob and Jamie thinking about what they would be wearing and what Donna’s hair and nails would look and feel like.
If you had to wear one outfit for the rest of your life, what would it consist of?
It would be a navy suit, a white shirt, and a navy knit tie.
That’s the fastest anyone has ever answered that question.
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