Matty Matheson on Transitioning From Real-Life Chef to ‘The Bear’ Star: ‘Acting Scares the S— Out of Me’

variety.com:

Sophia Scorziello editor Being a television personality is a lot different than playing a television character. For someone like cooking TV personality Matty Matheson, the latter can be terrifying. “Acting scares the shit out of me,” said Matheson, actor and executive producer on FX’s acclaimed restaurant dramedy series “The Bear.” On the show, Matheson plays Neil Fak, better known simply as Fak, the childhood friend of Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) and Carmy’s cousin Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach).

Fak is sensitive and sweet and sometimes spacey, but does his best in both seasons to keep first the Beef and then the Bear running as a handyman and server.

But even before joining “The Bear” in 2021, Matheson always had several irons in the culinary fire, running restaurants like Cà Phê Rang, Prime Seafood Palace, Rizzo’s House of Parm (named after his daughter, Rizzo) and Fonda Balam, all under the umbrella of his hospitality company Our House.

He’s been the face of numerous food programs such as Vice’s “Munchies,” “Dead Set on Life” and “It’s Suppertime” along with YouTube series “Cookin’ Somethin’ W/ Matty Matheson” and “Stupid F*cking Cooking Show.” Yet, still, the heat of the kitchen and under documentary camera lights is nothing compared to the heat on the set of “The Bear.” “Acting is really difficult,” Matheson asserts in an interview with Variety. “It’s, like, a lot of hard work.