This article contains spoilers for The Bear season 3.
Summary
ThroughoutThe Bearseason 3, various celebrities make exciting cameo appearances, but Tina’s episode is even sweeter to me now that I know the backstory of the cameo in question. In the third season,thecast ofThe Bearreflect on their pasts and prepare for what looks to be a messy future. While Carmy deals with his traumas and Sydney considers a new offer, I was happy to see the series spend an entire episode on Tina, the sassy but kind sous chef. Like her, the episode is tough yet heartwarming, especially after learning one incredible behind-the-scenes detail.
In the episode, “Napkins,” we get a sneak peek into Tina’s life before she started working atThe Beef restaurant inThe Bear. With longer hair and a happier attitude, Tina works the same office job every day until she is unexpectedly fired. Desperate to get a new job, Tina goes on an unsuccessful job hunt. At her wit’s end, Tina finds herself at The Beef. Richie gives her a free sandwich, and she has a long, inspirational conversation with Michael, which I found touching. By the end,Tina’s origin story is clear, but that isn’t the only gift the episode has to offer.
The Bear Timeline: All Flashbacks In Order & How Much Time Passes In Each Season
The Bear’s flashbacks can sometimes make the show’s timeline difficult to decipher, but certain scenes from all 3 seasons clear things up.
Liza Colón-Zayas' Real-Life Husband, David Zayas, Cameos As Tina’s Husband In The Bear S3
Tina’s Husband Is Her Husband In Real Life
While “Napkins” shines a spotlight on Tina, another character who got an unexpected close-up was Tina’s husband, David. As it turns out,the actor who plays David, David Zayas, is the real husband of Tina actress, Liza Colón-Zayas, which make the scenes between them retroactively so much lovelier for me. Overall, this makes David Zayas thebest cameo ofThe Bearseason 3, in my opinion, or at least the most meaningful. It is clear to me that the chemistry and intimacy between Tina and David inThe Bearcomes from a place of truth.
David Zayas and Liza Colón-Zayas met in the 1990s when they were both members of the LAByrinth Theater Company in New York City.
David Zayas and Liza Colón-Zayas met in the 1990s, when they were both members of the LAByrinth Theater Company, a traveling theater troupe, in New York City. Before they met, Zayas worked as a police officer and, through his work there, learned how to be a character actor. He got his start playing authority figures, and later, criminals. Meanwhile,Colón-Zayas' acting career began in the theater. She broke out after writing, directing, and starring in a one-woman semi-autobiographical play titledSistah Supreme.The two married in 1998, and now, have brought their relationship to the screen via Tina and David.
The Actors Have Cameos In Each Other’s Projects
David Zayas appeared inDexterfor all eight seasons.
What makes David Zayas' cameo inThe Bearseason 3 even better for me is the fact that Liza Colón-Zayas did the same thing years ago. One of Zayas' most pivotal roles was Angel Batista onDexter,and during his run on the show, Colón-Zayas' made her own cameo.DuringDexterseason 5, Colón-Zayas played Paloma Aragon, the mother of a murder victim. Zayas' Batista comforted Colón-Zayas' Paloma. In this way, the husband-and-wife duo have now both starred in each other’s biggest shows:DexterandThe Bear.
