WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for The Bear season 3.
Summary
Bradley Cooper made an incredibly brief “guest appearance” inThe Bearseason 3. While the highly-anticipated third season of the Emmy-winning serieslives somewhere in the monolithic shadow of seasons 1 and 2,The Bearseason 3 still featured several highlights and expansions to the beloved characters and rich backstory. Similar to the star-studded season 2 before it,The Bearseason 3 has several cameosincluding newcomers such as David Zayas, Josh Hartnett, and, most surprising of all,John Cena as Sammy Fak. The new season earned a critic score of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes but hasa series-low audience score of 59%.
Cooper, who recently starred in and directed theLeonard Bernstein biopicMaestro, has been nominated for a remarkable 12 Academy Awards but has yet to take home his first Oscar. He has also interestingly never been nominated for an Emmy but still appeared in the Emmy-winningThe Bear, which took home 10 awards at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards held in January 2024.Cooper is set to star in and direct hisMaestrofollow-up titledIs This Thing On?that will also star Will Arnett based on a screenplay written by Arnett and Mark Chappell. He is also expected to star in Steven Spielberg’s upcoming movie based on Frank Bullitt.
I Love The Bear But It Must End After 4 Seasons
The Bear is one of the most electric and emotionally brilliant shows I’ve ever seen, which is exactly why it needs a definitive expiration date.
Bradley Cooper Is Shown As A Famous Chef In The Bear Season 3’s Finale
Cooper played a fictional hotshot chef in 2015’s Burnt
Bradley Cooper is shown as one of the famous chefs on display at the Ever “funeral service” inThe Bearseason 3 finale. Ever was the world-renowned restaurant in Chicago owned and operated by Chef Andrea Terry, played by Olivia Colman, who was one of the biggest supporters and influences on Carmy’s (Jeremy Allen White) rise to critical acclaim. Both Carmy and Will Poulter’s character Chef Luca are part of a collage of acclaimed chefs who worked at Ever. WhileCarmy and Luca are obviously fictional chefs, several real-life chefs also make cameos inThe Bear, adding real-life authenticity to the season 3 finale.
Cooper appears in a still image from his 2015 movieBurnt, which received mostly poor reviews. Directed by John Wells,Burntfollows Cooper’s fictional chef character Adam Jones who destroyed his career through drugs and intolerable behavior. In the fictional world ofBurnt, Adam Jones was once the head chef of a two-star Michelin restaurant who lost it all due to his rockstar mentality and antics. While the film is a work of fiction, Adam Jones is loosely inspired by real-life celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain. Gordon Ramsay also trained Cooper for the role, which added authenticity to the project.
10 Ways The Bear Season 3 Sets Up A Very Different Season 4
The Bear season 3 introduces several possibilities that could shake up the winning formula of the series, especially regarding Sydney’s next move.
How The Bear Season 3’s Bradley Cooper Reference Connects To 2015’s Burnt
It could mean Cooper will reprise his Burnt role in The Bear season 4
The Bearis known for its surprise cameos, so Cooper appearing in season 4 is not out of the question.
Outside of the fact that Cooper is meant to be interpreted as his character Adam Jones from the movieBurnt, there’s absolutely no overlap between the 2015 film and the celebrated Hulu series. It’s unclear exactly what the inclusion of Adam Jones inThe Bear’sseason 3 finale means. It might be a reach to say that it’s a hint of what’s to come inThe Bearseason 4, but apotential Bradley Cooper cameo reprising his Adam Jones role in a seemingly unrelated serieswould be wild. With massive movie stars such as Josh Hartnett and John Cena now enteringThe Bear’suniverse, it may not be entirely out of the question.
More realistically, the brief shot of Bradley Cooper’sBurntcharacter in The Bear could simply be a nod to the underdog story of that film. Adam Jones eventually does the work to improve both personally and professionally by the end ofBurntwhich earns his restaurant a third Michelin star.This could also hint at the direction ofThe Bearseason 4’s trajectory, with Carmy hustling to earn a Michelin star for The Bear after getting what appears to be a bad review at the end of season 3. However,The Bearis known for its surprise cameos, so Cooper appearing in season 4 is not out of the question.
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.
Does Burnt Take Place In The Bear’s Universe?
It’s unlikely but not out of the question
Burntis one of the worst-rated movies of Bradley Cooper’s acting career on Rotten Tomatoes, having earned a critic score of just 28%.
There’s no actual evidence thatBurntandThe Beartake place in the same universe, although the potential remains for a surprise season 4 overlap.While a Bradley Cooper cameo inThe Bearmight throw some viewers off as the Cena one did, it would easily be the most shocking cameo of the series. The main issue withBurntis how opposite it is in terms of its popularity and acclaim fromThe Bear.Burntis one of the worst-rated movies of Bradley Cooper’s acting career on Rotten Tomatoes, having earned a critic score of just 28%. Since it is by no means considered one of his best or even memorable films, it’s more than likely that Cooper’s “cameo” inThe Bearwill amount to nothing in future seasons.
The Bear: All 28 Episodes, Ranked From Worst To Best
The Bear has earned the title of one of television’s most poignant and innovative drama series in just 3 seasons. Here are all 28 episodes, ranked.
