“We shot seasons three and four of The Bear together last year, and then we did pickups and connecting pieces this year. That means I’ve been sitting on the spoiler that my character goes to work at The Bear for so long. I love playing her because in some ways I really relate to her. Like her, I’m good at my job and I take my shit seriously. I like for things to run efficiently, and I have high standards. Where I’m not really like her, and what I admire about her, is that she’s always chill and smiling. One of the best notes I got for her character was from Coco Storer, who’s the show’s culinary producer. While everyone else is freaking out, Jess is like, ‘This is no big deal. I’ve seen way worse.’
I read Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara as part of my character research. The book is all about extending hospitality not just to restaurant guests, but to the people who work there, too. One example that stuck with me was the idea of promoting someone who doesn’t necessarily have experience in a role, but you’ve seen them do great work elsewhere, and you take a chance on them. Then you put in the effort to make sure they’re supported. That person will go above and beyond for you because they know you believed in them and gave them an opportunity. That really resonated with me because Chris Storer, the show’s creator and director, wrote Jess for me. I met him 10 years ago, and then out of nowhere, this offer came in. I thought, All right, well, I’m definitely going to show up and kill it. A big reason why I love working on The Bear is that the show questions how you can go deeper into something. When you wake up and have to do the same thing every day at a restaurant, how do you make it feel like you’re not stuck in a routine? How do you make it feel new? My character’s answer is to surround yourself with people who are better than you. I think that’s true overall.
I have a very complex relationship with beauty, as I think we all do. I wrote an Audible Original called Zaddy, which explores a lot of that: beauty, plastic surgery, and ambition. I’ve done a lot of research into different types of plastic surgery and how much you can actually change. It feels dangerous, but there’s still a pull. You see a photo and think, Wow, how do I look like that? But then it raises the question: if you have to change everything about yourself to succeed, are you really succeeding? What even is our definition of success—or of beauty?
I have melasma, so I can’t indulge in some of the stronger lasers like Morpheus8 and BBL, which I did not know was also the name of a laser. That’s probably a blessing in disguise because I don’t have to worry about going too far. But three times a year, I get Clear & Brilliant and microneedling, which is theoretically insane because you’re injuring yourself for better skin. I started getting it five years ago, and it’s sort of an addictive experience because they tell you it gets better the more that you do it.
Of course, when you get a treatment, the sales people try to sell you shit as you’re in a fugue state. You’re in the shop right after with a bright red face and whatever they tell you to buy, you’re convinced it’ll help you. That’s what happened when I got microneedling; they recommended the Alastin Restorative Skin Complex for healing, and it’s empty now, but I can’t bring myself to rebuy it even though it did its job. The same goes for my empty bottle of Skinceuticals C E Ferulic. The med spa told me there’s no better vitamin C, but I don’t know if I can buy another one again because it’s so expensive. It also smells like hot dog water. The first time I bought it, somebody came over to my house and I kept apologizing. [Laughs]
My friend gave me a bunch of Korean beauty products that her assistant brought back from Korea. I had never heard of the Dr. G brand, but she gave me one of their sheet masks. The day after I used it, my makeup artist on Chicago Med asked if I had done something differently because my skin looked amazing and moisturized. I haven’t been able to order the exact one online in the States, but the Royal Black Snail Cream masks are a strong substitute. And speaking of snails, I like using Cosrx’s Advanced Snail 96 Mucin essence both morning and night with a moisturizer on top. Right now, I like La Roche-Posay’s Lipikar lotion, but if it’s not that one, I like Embryolisse’s Lait-Crème. I’m also pale as paper, so I’m very careful about sunscreen. I like Supergoop!’s Play SPF 50, but I’m in the market for a new one because I keep hearing people say that American sunscreens suck. We’ll see.
When it comes to devices, someone gave me a Shani Darden LED mask years ago. I haven’t really been using it this summer, but I liked meditating with it. I was using it for 30 minutes, but when I saw my dermatologist, she told me that was too much for my melasma-prone skin, so she cut it down to 10 minutes—and this is why I can’t make my own decisions.
In general, I try not to wear base makeup on a daily basis—that’s the point of all of the skincare I do. I don’t know why this feels so weird to say, but I’m an Elle Fanning fan, and sometimes she’ll go out barefaced with a killer outfit and look incredible. That’s what I want. I will put on concealer under my eyes sometimes—but I’m just extremely basic and caveman-esque and base my entire beauty look on a six-minute smoky eye tutorial I found 15 years ago on YouTube. I make it my own and use light shades—Chanel’s Les Beiges palette in Medium is a favorite.
I like placing blush—either Nars’ powder blush in Orgasm or Merit’s Flush Balm in Raspberry Beret [discontinued]—on the apples of my cheeks. And my lips have no color in them—they’re naturally corpse-like gray—so I like to add a little bit of color. I’m too lazy to line them first, so I go straight in with my Charlotte Tilbury lipstick in Wedding Belles. I’m allergic to lanolin, so I can’t use a lot of lipsticks, but this one’s OK.
My brows go blonde at the end, so I like to fill them in with Benefit’s Gimme Brow gel—don’t question a classic. Another product I don’t question: Maybelline’s Falsies mascara, which I mostly know as the one in the purple tube. If you’re a fancy makeup brand who thinks your mascara is better than that one, I dare you to send it to me because it won’t be. All of the ones I’ve tried have clumped or smudged and I can’t handle that. That said, the true hero is my eyelash curler. I checked the brand and it's actually Wet N Wild, but let’s pretend it's Dior. Makeup artists are usually pleasantly surprised when I curl my lashes, which I try not to be offended by—I actually didn’t start using a curler on a regular basis until I noticed them saying, ‘Damn. Wow. There she is.’ I’m clearly vulnerable to anyone who wants to induct me into their makeup culture.
When I graduated from Columbia, I chopped my hair off—I basically got the Amélie chop—and dyed my hair blonde at the same time. The inspiration? Insanity, I guess. Someone should have done a wellness check. [Laughs] It was this very bad yellow and I needed someone to fix it, so I went to Eddie Cook and have been seeing him for over 10 years now. He’s a magician. I highly recommend becoming friends with a talented hairstylist and doing whatever they say, but the danger is that you can color hair any time you want—I can text him today and be pink tomorrow.
Eddie also cuts my hair, but not very often because my hair grows slowly. He recommended MaryRuth’s Liquid Hair Growth supplement. Another one of his clients has been taking it for a while and he said she grew bangs on bangs. I might take it, I might not… For some reason, taking a liquid supplement is a barrier for me. But I did take up his recommendation for the Rōz shampoo, conditioner, and leave-in and have been loving them. And if I want to blow out my hair, I use Revlon’s hot air brush and I’m done in 15 minutes. Then I take a curling iron to give it a bit more wave. It’s by Conair? Never heard of that brand before I just checked it. I am in fact seeking a beauty mentor or fairy godmother.
I think it’s sexy to have a fragrance and I want to seem like a cool fragrance girl, but I fell off the wagon when I started dating my now-husband and realized his mom wore my signature scent, Bvlgari Splendida Black Jasmine. I’m open to a new one, but I want to be swept off my feet and wined and dined by a fragrance. Like, as a kid, I wanted to be Camilla Belle in Vera Wang’s Princess campaign—it was my epitome of beauty. I’m very susceptible to marketing. [Laughs]
I quit gel manicures a year ago because my character on Chicago Med wouldn’t wear nail polish—and thank God I did. My nails were always breaking and now they’re so much stronger. But if I do get nails done now, I like Japanese or Russian manicures—and if there isn’t one around, I’m leaving them bare. I first got a Japanese manicure in Tokyo and the attention to detail is insane. I’m hooked, but I don’t have a go-to place—yet. I’m also hooked on OPI’s cuticle oil. I love that you can use it on the go, unlike dropper bottles. Just having healthy cuticles makes my hands look like I got a manicure.”
—as told to Daise Bedolla
Photographed by Shana Trajanoska in New York on June 26, 2025