[This story contains mild spoilers to The Bear season two.]
For as long as Ayo Edebiri can remember, Robert Townsend has been a part of her life. “He literally was my dad for a period,” says The Bear star, referencing the pioneering actor and director’s role as Robert Peterson on the WB sitcom The Parent ‘Hood, which he created and starred in from 1995-1999.
In a collage that sits in front of Edebiri’s desk is a cutout of a poster of Hollywood Shuffle, Townsend’s 1987 semi-autobiographical comedy which he co-wrote, produced, directed and starred in. When she and co-host Olivia Craighead released the second episode in the director series of their Iconography podcast on July 29, 2020, Townsend was Edebiri’s chosen icon. And when Christopher Storer, The Bear’s creator and co-showrunner, asked the actress who portrays Sydney in the comedy-drama who she wanted to play her dad in season two, she told him, “My dream would be Robert Townsend.”
“I owe him a debt and I think so many Black multi-hyphenates, and multi-hyphenates in general, do because he was such a trailblazer and so excellent, whether he was in front of the camera or behind the camera, or doing content for adults or for kids,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter. “There’s just so much that he did that I love and that I have so much fondness for, and I know I’m not the only one.”
Edebiri was right. Townsend, who got his start in Hollywood with an uncredited role in the 1975 coming-of-age drama Cooley High and wrote, directed and starred in ‘90s cult classic films The Five Heartbeats and Meteor Man, was already on Storer’s shortlist of names to portray Sydney’s father, Emmanuel Adamu. As it turns out, the Chicago native who also directed Eddie Murphy Raw, which remains the highest-grossing stand-up comedy concert film three decades after its 1987 release, had his eye on the FX series too.
“I was the biggest fan of The Bear before I was even thinking about being considered for the role,” Townsend tells THR. “I love the show. I was like, ‘I can’t wait for next season. What’s going to happen next?’ And then my agent gets a call and said, ‘They want to know if you would want to play Sydney’s father,’ and I was like, ‘Are you joking?’ This is one of the best written, directed and produced shows on television. So, I was like, ‘Yes, yes and yes.’ In show business, sometimes you have these beautiful, wonderful gifts that show up. And when they reached out, it was the best gift ever.”
Townsend shares an equal fondness for Edebiri and co-star Lionel Boyce who plays Marcus, The Bear’s pastry chef. In fact, he contacted the young actors after watching their performances in season one, both as an enthusiast and a mentor, holding Zoom meetings with them and offering advice and a listening ear when needed.
“Ayo is a baby unicorn,” Townsend says. “She’s like a little force of nature. I love her being. As an artist, you respond to people’s energy and who they are. We call it that ‘it thing’ in show business and she has that it thing. She’s having the most amazing moment. And it’s the same with Lionel. They just have that beautiful energy. It’s like they’re built for show business, and they’re here for all the right reasons.”
Ayo Edebiri as Sydney Adamu.
Courtesy of FX
It’s that mutual admiration that’s made for such tender moments between Townsend and Edebiri on-screen, particularly as Emmanuel, who begins the season with a healthy level of concerned parental skepticism about Sydney’s decision to be an initially unpaid partner in the new restaurant, eventually comes to realize that being a chef and owner is indeed her “thing.” Townsend still recalls the feeling on set when he had to question his TV daughter’s feelings ahead of opening night.
“I remember watching out of the corner of my eye when she gave a certain take, and I could see Chris [Storer] at the monitor, and he fist pumped,” Townsend says. “I felt it as well when I ask Sydney why she puts so much pressure on herself to make everything a thing and she says, ‘I don’t know if I can do another one.’ The way she said it, Chris was at the monitor, and I just saw his back, and his back went up.”
That scene in episode nine was actually the first Edebiri and Townsend shot together. “I remember being nervous and then him showing up and being like, ‘Let’s play,’” she recalls. “He wanted to be an actor and he was so game and humble in that way.”
It’s moments like those captured in the dining room of Emmanuel’s two-bedroom apartment, which Sydney moves into to keep a roof over her head while opening The Bear with Carmy, that Townsend believes have created such loyal viewership. On Rotten Tomatoes, season one currently holds a 91 percent audience score and a 100 percent rating on the Tomatometer.
“The reason I think it’s so successful is that it speaks to the world. There are so many people that have this dream, this goal, this passion, this desire, and they’re fighting with that idea to give birth, and this gives hope to all those dreamers,” he says. “You’re driven for whatever reasons to create whatever you’re going to create and you’re hoping and praying that it will come together, and somehow it does. Like the cans with the money in it from season one, it comes together.”
As a father, Townsend personally relates to Emmanuel. “Once I read the script, I was like, ‘Oh, I know who this man is. I’m part of this man, because I have four children and I have these same discussions. They’re all trying to find their way in life.”
As a thespian who jokingly describes himself as “such a little snob,” the role is the first he’s come across in a long time that made him want to step back in front of the camera after directing episodes of TV shows such as Kaleidoscope, American Soul and The Wonder Years, most recently.
“I love this,” Townsend says as he reflects on his longevity as an entertainer. “There are certain actors who have been in the game, and they’ve seen everything, been to every premiere, every whatever, and they get a little jaded. I still love the magic of show business. Everything about it I love.”
For Edebiri, who passionately upholds Townsend’s status as a legend, the hope is that the industry will return that same level of endearment for his contributions to cinema.
“People realize that they need to recognize the stature of non-white directors in the film canon. I feel like that reckoning is happening, which is really exciting and so well-deserved, but also why every time when we’re having conversations about this narrative, is it, ‘Why hasn’t he gotten his flowers?’ There’s that frustration as well,” she admits. “There’s so much incredible Black talent and it’s annoying that the conversation is always that they’re not getting their flowers. How do we stop having that conversation and just do it?”
With no tangible answer to that longstanding question, Edebiri continues adding stems to Townsend’s metaphorical bouquet. “He just dropped in and he was so tender and so real, and I feel like there’s so many nuances that you can feel about he and Sydney’s relationship that aren’t spoken,” she says. “Everything that you could want from a person was in the text, but he still found so much to play with,” she adds. “He’s just the coolest.”
The Bear‘s second season is now streaming on Hulu.
