The Bear Season 2: Jamie Lee Curtis & Jeremy Allen White's First Meeting Was Quite Unusual

Carmy Berzatto and his kitchen staff managed to return for a second season of "The Bear," delivering another installment that was just as stress-filled and brilliantly put together as the first. Packed with highlights, including Richie finally finding his purpose and cameo encounters that had us savoring every second, an undeniable highlight was enduring the festivities at the Berzatto household prior to Mikey's death. It was the stress-filled gift that kept on giving, boasting guest appearances from John Mulaney, Gillian Jacobs, Sarah Paulson, and Bob Odenkirk, to name a few. However, the true scene-stealer was Jamie Lee Curtis, who brilliantly portrayed Carmy's mother, Donna.

The most significant source of tension in the kitchen, who was emphatically not "okay," became a topic of discussion for the show's lead actor, Jeremy Allen White, when Variety asked him about his scenes with Curtis. As it turns out, their encounter thankfully couldn't have been more different from how they were on screen. "We didn't know each other, but she was so immediately honest, vulnerable, and curious," White said of his new on-screen mother tormented by egg timers. Texts had been sent, and calls had been made prior to their first get-together face-to-face. Thankfully, what followed was a very heartfelt encounter with Curtis, seemingly in full maternal mode.

Before family disputes and flying forks escalated the tension on set, Jeremy Allen White got a surprise hug from his "The Bear" co-star in anticipation of what would become one of the second season's highlights and a character that Jamie Lee Curtis herself deemed the role of a lifetime. "I remember I was sitting at base camp talking to somebody. I felt somebody behind me, and it was Jamie. She just hugged me for maybe two minutes, not an exaggeration, really just hugged me for two minutes, and then held my face for another two minutes."

White revealed that the two didn't speak during this initial meeting until Curtis eventually walked away. Odd? To some, maybe, but it's something that White was happy to accept. "She just wanted to let me know that some crazy things are going to happen in there, but she was letting me meet Jamie and know that at the end of the day, everything's going to be okay." It was, of course, in a maniacal, "we're going to my parents for next Christmas" sort of way. Returning in the final episode of the second season for a heartbroken, shameful encounter with her son-in-law Pete, Curtis' performance ranks her among the great TV moms, joining the likes of Livia Soprano and Kitty Forman.