Ayo Edebiri’s career in the entertainment industry has skyrocketed in the space of just a few years. Before The Bear creator Christopher Storer came calling, the 28-year-old was only known in a handful of circles, mostly because of stand-up comedy. Now, she’s the second most famous “Irish” after Cillian Murphy.
The Bear – a comedy-drama about the challenges of running a restaurant – has run riot this awards season and so has Edebiri, who has picked up awards at the Golden Globes, the Emmys, and the Critics Choice Awards in recent weeks.
However, Edebiri’s comments suggest she’s skeptical of her success – the thought process that was prevalent during her time as a stand-up comic as well.
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Why The Bear Star Ayo Edebiri Felt She’d Fail as a Stand-up Comic
Ayo Edebiri recently sat down with filmmaker Daniel Kwan, who also experienced a sudden rush of success after Everything Everywhere All at Once hit the theaters. The 2023 Oscar winner and the 2024 Golden Globes winner attempted to put their respective journeys into words for Interview Magazine.
Kwan remarked that celebrity culture mirrors a society’s mindset and the people we decide to put up on a pedestal tell us a lot about ourselves. He then turned the table on Edebiri, asking her thoughts on society as she’s now a rising star. She replied:
“I hope it’s a good thing, but there’s obviously that cynical part of my brain that wonders if I’m just a cog in the machine of capitalism. How do I make myself somebody who’s able to have a career, and not just be this moment of an idea of a type of person?”
In the same interview, the Bottoms star shared her fears as a stand-up comic when Kwan asked if she was into fashion. Edebiri revealed:
“I’ve always enjoyed clothes, but as a stand-up I got very into this uniform of big shirt, big pants, which I still think is cool, but I had this idea that if people see my body, they won’t take me seriously in stand-up.”
The director expressed his sadness at how the young writer and comedian felt during the time before adding she has now proved herself wrong.
Read more: ‘The Bear’ Star Ayo Edebiri Was Grounded For Having 1 Succession Actor’s Image on Her Laptop
What Happened When Ayo Edebiri Met Robert De Niro
The way Edebiri has started the new year, it’d be tough to find a person involved or interested in Hollywood who doesn’t know about her. However, that wasn’t the case just a few months ago – even after The Bear started to see an exponential rise in its viewership.
The Bear’s Sydney was left feeling humbled after meeting Robert De Niro at the Tribeca Film Festival. She recalled:
“It was when I met Robert De Niro—of course this would happen to me. [Laughs] At Tribeca [Film Festival], I was going to all these dinners, and I really wanted to meet him, and because I’m a nut-case, I was convinced that we would just get along. I knew it in my soul. When I met him, I couldn’t have met anybody less interested in meeting me.”
Kwan added that he had a similar experience when he met indie supergroup boygenius. After his brief conversation with Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus, he felt they didn’t know who he was.
