‘The Bear’ Star Liza Colón-Zayas on Tina’s Season 4 Growth

SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for Season 4 of “The Bear.”

“The Bear” used a full episode in its third season to give a backstory to Tina, played by Liza Colón-Zayas, a foundational member of both The Bear and The Beef before it. Titled “Napkins,” it was directed by “The Bear” star Ayo Edebiri, and charted Tina’s journey after getting laid off after 15 years at an office job where she was underappreciated. From there, she experienced a crushing job hunt in a Chicago that was changing before her eyes, and finally found a listening ear (and helping hand) in Mikey Berzatto (Jon Bernthal), who hired her as a line cook after a teary conversation in The Beef’s dining room.

In Season 4, each staff member of The Bear does their part to try to help the fine dining spot survive after a negative review in the Chicago Tribune added extra urgency to their already major financial problems. For Tina, that means shaving time off of how long it takes her to prepare and plate the pasta dish on the menu so the restaurant can turn tables around faster and seat more guests each night. Over the course of the season, she gets frustrated with herself about her speed, but reaches out to multiple coworkers for strategies and advice — a sign of vulnerability and growth, as the Tina we met in Season 1 was stubborn and unable to ask for help. Eventually, she learns to beat the clock.

Colón-Zayas spoke with Variety about Tina’s storyline in Season 4, and how intimately she relates to the character. Throughout the interview, she uses the word “I” to talk about Tina, and she comments on how alike she and the sous chef are. Even when asked about the possible ending of “The Bear,” Colón-Zayas doesn’t seem to separate the impact of the restaurant on her character from the impact of the show on her life as an actor. Read Colón-Zayas’ perspective on Tina’s journey — which earned her an Emmy after Season 2 — below.

Your character got a lot of added depth last season with “Napkins.” We got to learn about Tina’s marriage, her financial struggles and her relationship with Mikey. How did it feel to come back to Tina in Season 4 with all of that new knowledge?

We’re building on that. When we left off at the end of Season 3, it was this major crossroads with that review, and so even though I’m doing my best, it’s about Tina taking personal responsibility for leveling up to everyone else — while still trying to be there to help everyone else. As a family. As a unit, to survive this together.

Tina’s arc this season focuses on her struggle to fire the pasta dish she’s in charge of in under three minutes like she’s been asked to do. It feels tied to the intimidation she’s felt in previous seasons while working alongside younger, more educated, faster chefs.

This season, I realize that they’re not the enemy. These people are not trying to trap me. We are all in this together, so now my walls have gone down, and I am able to accept the help and the guidance and the feedback, because I know that I’m safe. We all want what’s best for each other, and for this restaurant. So we see this giant shift of me accepting that. It’s not about ego; it’s not about being pushed out; they actually believe that I have what it takes to do this. That I’m part of the team that can get a Michelin star. That’s hopeful. I’m trying to do my best to not be the weak link. And in the way that they’ve had my back, I’m gonna have their back now.

It’s interesting how much you talk about her in the first person. It seems that she’s so close to you.

Oh, wow. I didn’t realize I was doing that. I just really do feel like I know this character so personally. I understand what it feels like to be fighting for your life, and to feel irrelevant, and then to be given a second chance, and a third chance and a fourth when you least expect that you deserve it, or when others may think that you’re not worthy.

That also seems to be showing up in Tina’s home life. In one scene, she comes to work talking about a “stupid” fight she got into with her husband, and says she apologized just because someone had to. That’s very different from the hotheaded Tina we met in Season 1, who would never back down. What’s motivating her in that moment? Is she beaten down from the stress of the restaurant, or is she becoming more emotionally secure and putting away her ego?

The review is out, the clock is ticking and and Tina knows: What good is it to put energy into something that isn’t going to help you get through the day and elevate? I gotta compartmentalize. I don’t always have to be right. I don’t think it’s about feeling beaten down. It’s personal growth.

How else do you think her work life with Carmy and Sydney may have affected her home life?

I will refer back to “Napkins,” when we see that Tina has always shown love by feeding her family. I think they’re intertwined. I don’t know if they’re two separate things. This is also her family. They’ve been in each other’s lives for what, six years? This is an extension of her family. I think my home family knows that, and they’re bearing witness to the improvement that I’m making in life, and how this has reinvigorated me and and reinvented me. There’s that saying: How you do one thing is how you do everything. So I think it’s all connected.

Tell me about the conversation Tina has with Luca in Episode 8, where he says that even though the pressure of working in a kitchen is overwhelming, eventually, he realized that he can’t live without it. After that, she’s finally able to finish her pasta dish on time. Why do you think that conversation affects her so much?

I think it’s because I may be under the impression that everyone else is so much better, that everyone else has got it much more together than I do. So he recognizes — and so does Carmy, and so does Syd — they recognize that I need to be reminded that it’s repetition. It’s growth. It’s part of the journey. Nobody started out like that. They had their own “slow pasta” story. It helps when I hear that from these other characters and they believe in me.

I’ll tell actors coming up that when people you respect — who have a track record, and whose work you truly respect — listen to them. Believe them. Most of the time, they have nothing to gain by misleading you. So I think the same applies here for Tina in the kitchen.

The Season 4 finale is titled “Goodbye.” The episode feels like it could be the end of the show, but it definitely leaves the door open for more. What do you think?

I don’t know. I really don’t. We don’t know. We don’t know the change in strategy — with Carmy leaving behind the need to pull off chaos, and sticking with consistency — how that may have affected word of mouth, whoever’s coming in. Maybe that’s the Hail Mary. I honestly don’t know. Is there any Hail Mary that can come through now that that clock has reached zero? I don’t know. I don’t want it to end.

If this is the end of the show, how would you feel about how things wrap up for Tina?

I think she would be devastated, because this isn’t just about a job. When she walked into The Beef in in “Napkins,” it was just about a job and taking any job. But I don’t think this is about just this job. Now this is so much bigger than that. This show is very much about grieving and loss, and also moving forward. So I think she’ll land on her feet. But it’s gonna be hard personally.

And what about you personally? How would you feel if this is the end of the show?

I’ve already cried too many times. I love my job. I don’t want it to end. But I what I love and respect about it is maintaining the truth and the integrity and perhaps the reality that bigger, better restaurants have not been able to withstand all of the challenges of you know, rising prices, COVID, all of these things.

This interview has been edited and condensed.