Jeremy Allen White from The Bear to The Warrior-The Iron Claw

Cwith that sixteenth-century cherub look, the round face, the tiny mouth and the big, exaggerated blue eyes, Jeremy Allen White is today an extraordinarily successful actor. Until a few years ago many of us would not have recognized the image of him on a rotogravure. Yes, we had seen it in the series Shameless (as Lip Gallagher, 2011 to 2021) and we had noticed that astonished expression of his that made him look like Gene Wilder Of Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory.

But, suddenly, life took a completely different turn: they had chosen him as the protagonist of The Bearin the role of chef Carmy Berzattoa prodigy of creativity in the kitchen and a concentration of neurosis and loneliness that seemed to explode every second. At that moment, at thirty-two years old, Jeremy Allen White turned a new leaf.

Many critics decided that The Bear not only was it by far the best television series of the yearbut they put it on the cult list next to The Sopranos And Mad Men. White played the lion’s share and in fact you can’t take your eyes off him: in the tragicomic adventures of the Italian-American family dealing with a restaurant in Chicago, he is tender, lost, intolerant, incapable of communicating, vulnerable and unbearable. The series, now in its second season, has won prestigious awards, and White, in recent weeks, has won the statuettes for best television comedy actor at the Golden Globes, the Emmy Awards and the Critic Choice Awards.

Jeremy Allen White, sex symbol of the moment

Now he has come to the big screen in the role of wrestler Kerry in The Warrior – The Iron Claw. Together with Zac Efron and Harris he plays Dickinson one of the Von Erich brothers from the well-known Texas family of professional wrestlers in the early 1980s: with long disheveled hair, hard and implacable, self-destructive and drug addict, he is – according to the New York Times – “a blast of charisma”, a bomb of charisma.

However, nothing had prepared us for the media explosion of Calvin Klein’s advertising campaign for its legendary boxers. That’s all there is to it, and not just in Hollywood. That image of hers that stands out forcefully and provocatively on the billboards of Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles and in Lower Manhattan in New York has transformed into a socio-cultural phenomenon equal only to that of the times of Marky Mark (Mark Wahlberg, another Calvin Klein icon) , in 1992: even the prestigious monthly New Yorker felt compelled to analyze the strength of the sex symbol “at a time when the country needed him”. Thus the video of White, with chiseled and perfect biceps and abs – him putting on his jeans, lying down against the backdrop of the skyscrapers of Manhattan, or holding a bitten apple in his hand (ah, of course, the primordial symbol of sin), boxer whites, black boxers – is analysed, vivisected, interpreted, discussed in every detail.

And his private life? Needless to say, she is explored relentlessly. The paparazzi guard him day and night to get a photo of him with Rosalia, the Catalan singer he became involved with after his divorce from his wife Addison Timlin. I’m here to interview him for The Warrior-The Iron Claw. Serious and concentrated, he directs the conversation to the acting profession, the preparation, the set, his role in the film. Boring? No, quite the opposite: if anything serious and even passionate, perhaps a little cautious with the journalist he doesn’t know. Dark sweater, light collar, more college student than sex symbol.

From Chef to Wrestler

The world of wrestling never interested him and he knew little or nothing about it, he said recently. Why this film then?
Yes, you’re right, I didn’t know much about it, and I knew nothing about the Von Erich brothers. When I was young, however, I had many friends who were passionate about this sport-entertainment, and I, albeit without too much enthusiasm, ended up taking part in their discussions. But, you see, the most exciting thing about my work as an actor is precisely this: you have the opportunity to face and learn about different worlds and environments, to master skills and techniques that you would never have even imagined. When could you find the time to throw yourself into something so new and unlikely? I was amused by the idea of ​​this set, I liked the story which was unbelievable and I was interested in the historical period, the family dynamics between the brothers and the father.

You shot the film in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in scorching heat, suffocating air.
And I even appreciated that: everything was slower, time passed at an indolent pace, I was sweating and it felt good. There wasn’t the stimulation you have in cities like New York and Los Angeles. Filming on location helps your work as an actor, it’s easier to build your own, unreal world when you’re in an unfamiliar place. In Baton Rouge, a very pleasant town, everything revolves around the University of Louisiana football team and, when the game misses one weekend, there’s nothing else to do. In short: it was the ideal location to concentrate on my work, together with my classmates, and experience that summer camp feeling. Here, I am a child again.

Speaking of acting, what is striking in his performances is the intensity with which he immerses himself in the characters. I am referring in particular to Carmy’s The Bear. He expresses himself with minimal movements, in very close-ups, often without uttering a word, and we spectators remain there, ensnared by different sensations: anxiety, discomfort, relief. What goes through your mind in those moments?
I don’t know either, I often feel like I’m playing roulette, and I just hope that everything goes well. I try to prepare as much as possible, to understand the scene and its objective. On set, partly out of laziness, you tend to think that everyone will behave the way you expect, but in truth this doesn’t happen, so you have to be prepared to the best of your ability. You arrive and let yourself go, you try to be present with the actor in front of you, and if you are dealing with a talented colleague everything becomes simple… I was very lucky both in The Bear both in The Warrior-The Iron Claw.

Let’s talk now about Jeremy White star. You have become extraordinarily popular in a short time: the paparazzi give you no peace, social media goes crazy. How do you feel, how do you react?
I don’t know… I mean: yes, my life has changed in the last two years, and mostly for the better. For my career, unexpected opportunities have arisen, talking to people I respect and admire, writers, directors and authors with whom I have been able to work. For the rest, I try to stay away from the internet and social media. I have an Instagram account but I only open it for work reasons. This success of mine may seem new, sudden, but I have been acting since I was 15 – I worked on television for 14 – and the affirmation happened gradually. I don’t feel like “Wow! Suddenly I became famous and confused…”. No, it was a continuous, uninterrupted, step by step process.

You started acting as a teenager: when did you make the decision to become an actor? And why?
He made me feel at ease. I remember the first time: in seventh grade, I took an acting class. I had studied dance and then switched to the acting program because I thought ballet wasn’t a serious enough discipline for me (which is ridiculous, when you think about it), so I enrolled in John McEneny’s school (known as a “drama teacher” of Brooklyn, ran a program for middle school students, ed.). I remember that little theater of ours, a sort of black box, and my first time on stage. I was usually an anxious child, thinking about the future and thinking about the past… I don’t know why, but suddenly on stage I was able to focus on something else, be present in the moment in a way I hadn’t known before. I liked that different perception of myself.

Has that pleasant feeling of security remained the same as time has passed?
Well, acting is something I appreciate immensely. I admire cinema, I appreciate theatre, I love actors, I am fascinated by directors and writers. I think this is the right path: I feel lucky and enthusiastic about the idea… Oh yes, I really like this job.

What do you aspire to, then, at this point?
Professionally? I would not know. From a very young age I had the ambition of being able to last over time, at 16-17 I wanted to work with people I admired, today I want to continue learning. Yes, the rules are very simple: stay close to who you think is talented, and stay there as long as possible, because this is a difficult industry. I don’t have a specific dream, I just want to continue doing what I love so much.

In short: Jeremy Allen White is happy, right?
Yes, yes… (perplexed).

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