10 Quick Questions For Liza Colón-Zayas

Veteran actress preps for Season 2 of FX’s ‘The Bear’

Gayle Jo Carter,

AARP

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Published June 19, 2023

liza colón-zayas against blue and green background

Maarten De Boer/Contour by Getty Images

Liza Colón-Zayas, 49, stars as a feisty prep cook on the popular FX series The Bear, and recently made her Broadway debut in the Pulitzer Prize-winning dark comedy Between Riverside and Crazy. She tells AARP how she honed her culinary skills for her on-screen role, how it felt to take to the Broadway stage and how she plans to celebrate a milestone birthday.

What can you tell us about Season 2 of The Bear [premiering June 22 on Hulu]?

You’ll learn more — a little more personal things about each character, and it’s going to blow your mind. That’s all I’m going to say.

Can you tell if a project is going to connect with audiences like The Bear did?

I’ve been wrong so many times. When we did The Bear, I liked the pilot. I thought, This is amazing, but no one’s going to watch it because it’s so specific. And yet it’s that specificity, that authenticity, people really dig. It really is.

How are your real-life cooking skills?

I do love to cook, except since doing the show and getting a little training, now I question how I can improve it or take it to the next level, which I didn’t do before, and that’s cool.

What kind of training did you do?

Well, the first season I had none. I just was good at looking like I was banging around a spatula. For Season 2, I did a week with Chef David Waltuck, who was responsible for the [New York] restaurant — which was a big deal — Chanterelle. Now, he trains disenfranchised people in the Bronx. He’s amazing. I had a week with him, and on my first day, both my hands were really cut up.

liza colón-zayas wearing apron in restaurant kitchen in a still from the bear

Colón-Zayas plays a rough-around-the-edges prep cook in FX's "The Bear."

Matt Dinerstein/FX

What surprises you most about the restaurant world?

The chefs and cooks — how much they really dig the pressure. That what looks terrifying to me is like, “You want that?” You could ask the same thing of actors: “Aren't you terrified being on stage?” And it’s like, “A little bit, but that’s part of the rush.” That surprised me.

Speaking of rushes, after nearly three decades of theater performances, you finally made your Broadway debut. What was that like?

It’s a combination of finally and disbelief, because when you’re struggling so hard for so many decades, you can come to believe negative things. I don’t know if that will ever fully disappear. It’s great to get recognition, but it’s also, for me, I’m always waiting for the other shoe to drop. But it’s great because we work so hard.

What do you do on a New York City day off?

Avoid New York City. My work is so demanding that my favorite thing to do is just hang — whether in my house, with friends or my husband — and cook something or watch a film. I’m really almost a shut-in when I’m not working because it just demands so much, not just physically but emotionally, and I need to cocoon. So even though I love this city, and I love that culture is right there and diversity is all around me, I’m happy to be home.

You’re married to an actor, David Zayas, and you’ve worked together in theater and on TV’s Dexter. Is there competition?

No, never. No, I don’t get that. I don’t understand it. We are each other’s cheerleaders. Always have been. He was a dear friend, a best friend to me for years before we started dating. I’m so proud of him. I’m so happy for him.

You’re turning 50 this year. How do you feel about birthdays?

It’s not a big thing to me. I have a lot of friends who celebrate all month and every year with a vengeance. I never really paid attention to it, but this year, it’s a biggie, and it has a little more weight to it than it ever did. I can’t read anything into what a number means because I’ve put expiration dates on myself before and I’m like, You know what? To hell with that. This life has been, this journey has been, so shocking and amazing and also tragic. Just roll with it.

Are you making any changes as you age to keep up your energy level?

Girl, I’m trying. I have to maintain it. The only working out I really like to do is sit-ups. I’m trying to do that regularly. I do — I’m sorry — like my Scotch. I just feel like there’s got to be something to live for, and I’m gonna try to balance it.

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Gayle Jo Carter is a former entertainment editor at USA WEEKEND, who during her 30-year reporting and editing career, has worked at USA TODAY, Voice of America and Feature Story News. When not interviewing high-profile people, she’s teaching reformer Pilates classes and doing her best to raise two empathetic, curious, healthy young people to adulthood.