The Untold Truth Of Jeremy Allen White

Jeremy Allen White has been a fixture on our screens since 2011 when he landed the role of the Gallagher clan's brainiest but often most self-destructive member, Lip, in Showtime's long-running family saga "Shameless." But it's only recently that the New Yorker has become the talk of the town.

And it's another Chicago-based dramedy that's responsible for his profile skyrocketing. Indeed, White picked up gongs at the Critics' Choice Television Awards, Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards for his leading performance as Carmen 'Carmy' Berzatto in Hulu original "The Bear." And the tale of an acclaimed chef who returns to his hometown to help his brother's struggling sandwich shop has also made the actor a heartthrob, too.

So, with the incredibly intense series — seriously "Hell's Kitchen" looks like "Nailed It" in comparison — having returned for a second season, what better time to dig deep into White's life story? From celebrity doppelgängers and high school sweethearts to hidden talents and guilty pleasures, here's a look at his untold truth.

Hulu original "The Bear" may be one of the least horny shows in the era of peak television — it's hard to find the room or the time to show any shenanigans in a half-hour drama set almost entirely in a bustling Chicago sandwich shop. But that hasn't stopped viewers from thirsting over its lead.

Indeed, with his tousled hair and piercing blue eyes, Jeremy Allen White's chef Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto has become TV's most lusted-after dirtbag. Luckily, the actor is completely fine with his new status as a sex symbol. In fact, as revealed in an interview with GQ, he can totally relate: "What I find attractive in people is a determination. If you're truly good at something, that's incredibly attractive. I understand people having a crush on Carmy. I think I have a bit of a crush on Carmy."

But if fans were hoping that they might get to see some bedroom action in the future, then they are sorely mistaken. White added, "Carmy's, like, the least sexual person. In playing him, I was aware that he had no room for love."

You might be aware that Jeremy Allen White has a Golden Globe Best Actor in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy to his name. And that he's also picked up accolades at the Screen Actors Guild and Critics' Choice Television Awards. But you might not be aware that his trophy haul very nearly included a Razzie.

Indeed, in 2014, White and the likes of Kate Winslet, Chris Pratt and Richard Gere were all nominated in the Worst Screen Combo category at the 34th Golden Raspberry Awards for their collective performances in "Movie 43." The New Yorker played Kevin Miller, a teenager who receives a warped homeschool education, in the critically-panned gross-out comedy. But luckily, he and the rest of his castmates' blushes were spared when the award went to Will and Jaden Smith for "After Earth."

Speaking to Esquire several years later, White acknowledged how bizarre the whole experience was: "That was such a weird thing, wasn't it? It was the normal way that I got involved. I went in to audition for it ... and I met with the director and I got the role. I really had no idea outside of my little skit what was going to be shown in that movie otherwise ... It was such a strange thing how they got everybody together to do that."

You know you've made it when you become an online meme. And in 2022, Jeremy Allen White went through this celebrity rite of passage when Twitter discovered that his character in "The Bear" had a famous doppelganger. Indeed, with his shaggy hair and commanding nose, the actor was said to resemble "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" star Gene Wilder. Well, a drug-addled version, as the social media platform would determine.

As he revealed to InStyle, White has been alerted to the rather unflattering comparisons but luckily, he sees the amusing side: "Yeah I've been made aware of some of the stuff out there. There's one in particular: everyone's decided I look a lot like Gene Wilder, which I agree. But I guess someone called me 'Ketamine Gene Wilder.' Or called Carmy 'Ketamine Gene Wilder,' which I thought was weird and funny."

White had to rely on others to point out all the discourse as he prefers to limit his online presence. The New Yorker explained in a separate chat with the same site, "I have Instagram. I don't have Twitter. I don't have any Google alerts set on anything or anybody, certainly not myself."

In 2019, Jeremy Allen White walked down the aisle with fellow actor Addison Timlin in a ceremony they largely managed to keep hush-hush from the press. By this point, the newlyweds had actually known each other for a good 14 years, although nearly half that time was in a strictly platonic capacity. The bride and groom had actually first met when they were both in high school.

"I was instantly very much into her and she, me too, I think," White told GQ in 2022 about their early years. "But she had a boyfriend. I was just so clumsy about all that stuff." The pair then lost touch when Timlin moved to another school but reconnected when they were both cast in the 2008 psychological drama "Afterschool."

However, it was only in 2013 that true love appeared to blossom, with Timlin telling Harper's Bazaar, "I've got a sweetheart who I will not disclose ... We have a nice foundation from being friends for a long period of time, and then it took a hard right turn into romance." The couple went on to become parents to daughters Ezer Billie and Dolores Wild. But sadly, in 2023, news emerged that Timlin had filed for divorce.

If "The Bear" ever gets an all-singing, all-dancing episode à la Buffy the Vampire Slayer's "Once More with Feeling," then Jeremy Allen White is more than equipped. Well, with the dancing part, anyway. As it turns out, the New Yorker trained in ballet, jazz, and tap as a youngster before pivoting into acting.

And he took the art form seriously, too. Speaking to GQ in 2022, White revealed that he abandoned his dancing ambitions aged 11 because he didn't believe his middle school program was rigorous enough for a boy of his talents. "So obnoxious," the star described his rather precocious behavior while laughing.

However, that doesn't mean that you won't see White throwing some shapes from time to time. In an interview with Interview, the Golden Globe winner revealed that he'll often bust out his own signature move while out on the town: "All my friends make fun of me because I have a very specific dance I do when the tempo changes. I guess it would be described as a, like, a weird sashay-tap thing. But if I could dance forever, that would be great."

Jeremy Allen White revealed he routinely watched Al Pacino's turn as a heroin addict in "The Panic in Needle Park" to prepare for his role of Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto in Hulu's kitchen dramedy "The Bear." So you might expect his favorite TV shows to be similarly gritty. "The Wire," perhaps, or maybe "Narcos" if he fancied something more recent. But it turns out that the actor likes nothing more than slobbing out in front of some unadulterated reality television.

When asked about his viewing habits by NPR in 2022, White admitted that he and his then-other half Addison Timlin prefer to switch their brains off in front of the box: "I have a three-year-old and a one-year-old at home. When my wife and I put them to bed, we don't want to think about anything, so we're into the "Housewives," we're into "Below Deck." That's our speed right now."

But White also teased that he may start taking inspiration from his character when it comes to his screen activities. Carmy is a big fan of "Pasta Grannies," the YouTube series in which several Italian grandmothers make the foodstuff by hand. "Maybe I should get into [that] as well," he added.

Jeremy Allen White doesn't appear to be the kind of guy who scares easily. But when asked by Fault about his biggest fear, "The Bear" star admitted that there's one thing that playing sandwich shop chef Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto has brought to his attention.

"Loneliness, it is scary for everybody," the Golden Globe winner said, "But much like Carmy, like myself, it is scary dealing with loneliness. It is about how one is capable of: connecting, being vulnerable, and dealing with loneliness. It's a fear that I've been thinking about a lot because of Carmy."

White has experience of loneliness having relocated from New York to Los Angeles at the age of 18 entirely by himself after landing the role of Lip Gallagher in Showtime dramedy "Shameless." However, the actor, who also couldn't drive at this point, told GQ that he managed to find the positives at the time: "I didn't have a community outside of the show when I first got there, and I felt super isolated. I would go to Canter's a lot and read scripts. There was something kind of romantic about that loneliness in the first year, too."

Get ready to ugly cry. Jeremy Allen White continued to endear himself to the nation in 2022 when he told InStyle that his best friends weren't anyone from his "Shameless" days or New York hometown — but his two young daughters.

White first became a father in 2018 when he and then-wife Addison Timlin welcomed Ezer Billie into the world, and then again two years later with the birth of Dolores Wild. And the Golden Globe winner believes that parenthood has had nothing but a positive effect: "I learn a lot from them. I feel like in a lot of ways, they're teaching me all the time how to be better: how to be better to them; how to be better to my wife, my friends, my parents, my sister. I think I've been ready to domesticate for a long time, and I'm so happy to be in the house all the time with them."

But as he explained to People, his two tots haven't entirely domesticated White when it comes to mealtimes: "I've been so lazy. I cook breakfast every morning for my daughters, nothing terribly fancy, but once we put them in bed, we're on Postmates or DoorDash."

Jeremy Allen White had to take classes at the Institute of Culinary Education in Los Angeles in preparation for his role as chef Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto in sandwich shop drama "The Bear," as well as shadow Dave Beran at the Michelin-starred Pasjoli. And this intensive training was certainly much needed.

Indeed, before landing the lead role on the Hulu original, White could barely even make toast. And as he admitted to Uproxx, his cooking skills still leave a little to be desired: "I can fake it well. I can move around well. My knife skills are okay. And I have a couple dishes that I can do at home and stuff like that. I'm still trying to get better all the time. I hope we get to do more of the show and I just want to get better and better."

White might not be running his own restaurant in real life any time soon, but at least he can now fend for himself in the kitchen. He told People, "I love a Sunday roast. I love something really hearty, almost wintry comfort food. I'll do short ribs, roasted vegetables, some kind of potato. That's what I like to make and what I like to eat."

It's hard to imagine anyone other than Jeremy Allen White playing self-destructive brainiac Lip Gallagher in Showtime's long-running dramedy "Shameless." Or indeed, anyone other than Cameron Monaghan playing bipolar "gay Jesus" Ian in the same show. But for a moment there, the two fictional brothers could have looked very different.

Indeed, in a 2012 interview with Collider, White revealed that he actually auditioned to play Ian as well as Lip during the casting process. And he actually preferred the role he didn't get at the time: "I thought he was incredibly interesting. I had done a screen test for "United States of Tara," two years before, so I just thought Showtime really wanted me to be gay. I was like, 'I can do it for you guys! I can really do it!'"

Luckily, White began to appreciate the role he did land, particularly for the yin-yang between his street-smart and booksmart sides: "I think it's just a fascinating inner battle that these people go through. It's this turmoil over it being a gift and a curse ... These incredibly intelligent people have a very hard time existing in everyday life. I found that to be more fascinating, in the end, then playing gay, I suppose."

As the likes of "Weeds" and Dexter had previously proved, Showtime will run a hit drama into the ground before finally calling time on it. And it was no different with "Shameless," the Chicago family saga which staggered on for 11 seasons, many of which adhered to the law of diminishing returns.

It's little wonder, therefore, that one of its MVPs, Jeremy Allen White, was left feeling disillusioned by the whole TV-making machine as the dramedy neared its end. In 2022, he told GQ, "There was a period where I stopped feeling like an actor and I started feeling like I was just here to do this show. It was an upsetting head space to be in. When it was going to end, I was questioning: Maybe I do just exist on this show. What else is there? Am I an actor? I was definitely having a lot of doubt when I was finishing "Shameless.""

Luckily, White managed to overcome these self-doubts and a year after "Shameless" ended, he landed the role which sent his career stratospheric, Carmy in Hulu's sandwich shop tale "The Bear." And he can now look back on his time as troubled genius Lip Gallagher with more fondness: "I love "Shameless" so much. I love everybody that was a part of it, and the experience was incredible. But I'm not sure if shows are meant to go that long."

The self-doubts that Jeremy Allen White experienced toward the end of his run on Showtime dramedy "Shameless" very nearly cost the actor his true career-making role. Indeed, the New Yorker almost ended up turning down the part of Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto on Hulu original "The Bear" after reading its script, as he told GQ in 2022.

White was afraid of being typecast after spotting the similarities between the character he'd just waved goodbye to, troubled brainbox Lip Gallagher, and the character he was putting himself in the frame for. Both were Chicagoans, for one thing. Both were tortured souls, for another. And both hailed from families that could best be described as dysfunctional.

However, White eventually realized that he'd be mad to pass on such an opportunity. He said, "I think I was too concerned with what other people might think. I also knew that if I said no to this, that whoever ended up doing it, I would hate them forever. So there was some spiteful stuff going on, too."

In 2022, it was confirmed that Jeremy Allen White would be portraying real life professional wrestler Kerry Von Erich in Sean Durkin's sports biopic "The Iron Claw." And as you'd expect, the New Yorker had to massively bulk up to convince as the WCCW legend. But while getting paid to eat calorific foods sounds like a dream, it ended up becoming a nightmare.

In an interview with Esquire, White claimed that he found his dietary requirements gross: "In the morning, I would have waffles, almond butter. In the middle of the day, I was eating turkey patties and avocado all the time ... You're trying to consume as much as you possibly can, and, to be honest, you don't feel great. I was training as well, but, I don't know, trying to get that big, it's no way to live."

Of course, it doesn't help having one of Hollywood's most jacked pin-ups as a co-star, either. Referring to Zac Efron, who plays Kevin Von Erich in the movie, White said, "He's so focused and knowledgeable on training, diet, all that. In terms of a physical transformation, I think he kind of blew us all out of the water. He looks really amazing in this thing."

"The Bear" is one of the most acclaimed shows of the 2020s having picked up gongs at the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Critics' Choice Television Awards — its first season also has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 99 percent! But its leading man acknowledges that there's one aspect of the sandwich shop dramedy that deserves to be called out on.

During an appearance on "Late Night with Seth Meyers," Jeremy Allen White, who plays chef Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto in the Hulu original, was asked about his famous shaggy locks. "I thought [my hair] looked great on the show," he boasted before revealing he'd styled it in the manner of Marco Pierre White's. However, the actor admitted that his 'do had caused its fair share of problems. White said, "A lot of people are calling out — and they're not wrong — that I should have been wearing a cap. I should have been wearing something because so much of Carmy's hair is probably in all those sandwiches."