Jamie Lee Curtis foresaw she'd play Donna Berzatto on The Bear

Jamie Lee Curtis was a highlight of The Bear season 2 and the actress is opening up about her acclaimed turn in the hit show!

Curtis has been a notable Hollywood star since she was a child. The fact she’s the daughter of legendary actors Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh means she was literally born for the business. Her breakout turn in Halloween kicked off a film career that included hits like Trading Places, True Lies, Freaky Friday and culminating in Curtis winning an Oscar for Everything Everywhere All At Once. 

In terms of television, Curtis has had surprising appearances, such as starring in the ABC sitcom Anything But Love. She’s had recurring roles on NCIS and New Girl yet given her movie fame, seeing Curtis on TV is rare.

That made her turn on The Bear so notable. A highlight of season 2 of the hit FX/Hulu drama was “Fishes,” which flashes back to a Christmas for Carmy (Jeremy Allen White), his brother Mikey (Jon Bernthal) and Natalie (Abby Elliot). With no prior announcement she was involved, Curtis appeared as the matriarch, Donna Berzatto. She was joined by a top supporting cast of Bob Odenkirk, Sarah Paulson and John Mulaney. 

The episode showed the difficult dynamics of the Berzatto family with Donna, a tightly wound woman who soon shows she has serious mental issues, culminating in driving a car into the living room. The episode has been hailed as one of the series’ best and Curtis has been nominated for an Emmy. 

Speaking to Deadline on her career to promote her new film Borderlands, Curtis shared she was a fan of The Bear in season 1 and when characters brought up Donna, she had a strange feeling that somehow she was going to get the role: “I went, ‘I’m going to play her.’ I swear.” My agent said, ‘You’ve been offered a part on The Bear.”

Curtis immediately called the show’s creator, Christopher Storer, who gave surprising inspiration for the look. “I said, ‘What do you want her hair to look like?’ He sent me a picture of Monica Vitti. I said, ‘What do you want her nails to look like?’ He sent me a picture of the Desperate Housewives of New York.”

It was a great turn that fans hope leads to more of Donna. 

Is Donna coming back to The Bear?

Donna made a return in season 3 when Natalie went into labor in "Ice Chips" and reluctantly called her for help. This led to a wonderful talk between the two where Donna came clean on her abusive past and how it shaped her, recognized her mistakes as a mother and wanted to do better. 

With season 4 confirmed to be coming it’s likely Donna returns yet it’s tricky given Curtis’ busy schedule. Indeed, “Fishes” needed a top-secret production to keep its star guest cast quiet before it was released. However, Curtis seems to want to return to the role as she told Deadline one of Donna’s lines calls out to her. 

"Donna in The Bear has that incredibly beautiful line where she says, “I make things beautiful for them. No one makes anything beautiful for me.” That feeling of being unseen, and yet so much effort is put into your life, and it isn’t responded back. Or it is, but she just can’t see it. I’ve had a lot of people say that. That line in particular really got them."

It says something that in a career as long and rewarding as Curtis’, The Bear has showcased one of her finest performances and fans are hopeful she comes back to it.

The Bear is streaming on Hulu.