Michelle Pfeiffer almost played Carmy's mom on The Bear
Melanie Griffith was also in the running to play Donna Berzatto in the show's guest-star heavy "Fishes"
FX and Hulu’s The Bear recently released its second season—a pivotal time for a show that became both a critical and an audience darling pretty much five minutes after its first season hit the streaming airwaves last year. One consequence of that immediate enthusiasm for Chicago-based beef becomes evident when you scan the guest list roster for the show’s second season, which is ridiculously stacked—including two recent Oscar winners, in the form of Olivia Colman and Jamie Lee Curtis. The latter plays main character Carmy’s oft-mentioned, emotionally erratic mother Donna, who’s not seen until the season’s big, explosive centerpiece flashback, “Fishes.”
Although The Bear deployed other big-name guest stars in its first season—Oliver Platt and Jon Bernthal both appeared in small but pivotal roles—“Fishes” is a testament to how many famous people really like The Bear these days, featuring appearances from Curtis, Bernthal, Bob Odenkirk, John Mulaney, and Sarah Paulson. But, per an interview this week in Vulture with casting director Jeanie Bacharach, she revealed that, while Curtis was one of the first people the show’s creators thought of for Donna, she wasn’t the first one they approached.
In fact, the first person offered the job was Michelle Pfeiffer, who, despite being “a huge fan of the show and really, really considered it,” ultimately passed due to scheduling issues. Similarly, Melanie Griffith turned down the part after considering it, which led series creator Christopher Storer to swallow his nerves and approach Curtis, who was then in the run-up to her Best Supporting Actress win for Everything, Everywhere All At Once. Luckily, Curtis was already a fan: “I think she said ‘yes’ before she even looked at the scripts, just based on the character description and getting to be part of the show,” Bacharach said.
(Bacharach also tries to shoot down the idea that the show was going intentionally for huge names with these castings—not entirely convincingly—saying that, “It wasn’t so much about wanting to go after big names as much as we just knew we needed people who could fill these roles in a significant, meaningful, and memorable way.”)
The Bear’s second season aired (all at once, for some reason) back on June 22.