By Ethan Millman
Ebon Moss-Bachrach will forever hold a certain spot in Swiftie lore thanks to an iconic scene in The Bear, in which his character Richie jubilantly sings along to Taylor Swift‘s “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” in one of the most triumphant moments of the series so far. Now, Moss-Bacharach says that he has the song’s lyrics “burned into my heart and burned into my head.”
“Love Story” was strongly featured in the fan-favorite season two episode “Forks,” in which Richie is sent off to a high-end restaurant and discovers a new-found passion for food service. He sings out the Swift classic in his car after finishing a shift, a particularly heart-warming moment in the often stressful world The Bear‘s cast typically lives in.
While the song is one of Swift’s best-known hits, in an interview with The Guardian published Wednesday, Moss-Bachrach said it “took some rehearsal” for him to remember the lyrics, noting that his daughters aren’t Swifties and he hadn’t been exposed to much of her music to that point.
“I think she’s probably a great songwriter, she’s a cat lover, I think she likes Rhode Island, so in my book, she’s great,” Moss-Bachrach said. “I did have to have some of the lyrics right next to me, but now they’re burned into my heart and burned into my head. I don’t think I’ll ever get those lyrics out of me.”
It’s not the first time Moss-Bachrach acknowledged Swift and the song. Earlier this year, he jokingly called Swift his “scene partner” in his acceptance speech at the Critics Choice Awards. Swift subsequently congratulated him for the award on X.
Beyond “Love Storym,” Moss-Bachrach talked about his surprise on how widespread The Bear has gotten, and said that now, “people yell ‘Cousin!’ at me all day.” He also noted that he thinks food is having a major cultural moment, and he’s ready for other creative mediums to take over again.
“I’m eager for this pendulum to swing a little bit back from food as culture, as the end-all, be-all,” Moss-Bachrach said. “I’m excited to have a little bit more focus on music and theatre and that kind of stuff, because right now it feels like [there’s] a full gastronomical zeitgeist thing happening.”
The Bear has become one of the biggest and most beloved shows on television, sweeping at the Emmys as the show won Outstanding Comedy series while Moss-Bachrach won Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. His co-stars Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, respectively.
The show’s much-anticipated third season will come out on Hulu on June 27.
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