Molly Gordon would like to take a nap. “We all need to sleep for about a year,” she says of her best friends turned collaborators behind the hilarious Sundance gem Theater Camp, out now. Gordon codirected the film with Nick Lieberman and cowrote it alongside Lieberman, Ben Platt, and Noah Galvin. (Platt and Galvin, who are engaged, also star alongside Gordon in the movie.) “Everyone broke themselves to make this movie.”
As if that weren’t enough, the 27-year-old also has a significant role in the current season of FX’s smoking-hot series The Bear as Claire, the love interest of Carmy (ahem, that’s Internet boyfriend Jeremy Allen White to you). It’s not every day that you’re a force behind two of the buzziest projects of the summer simultaneously. So yeah, a nap for about a year sounds about right.
Theater Camp began as a short film that Gordon created with Platt, Galvin, and Lieberman back in 2017. The film follows Gordon’s Rebecca-Diane and Platt’s Amos, beloved counselors at the deliciously cringy AdirondACTS theater camp. The two hurl blood, sweat, and tears into every finger of a jazz hand while overseeing the annual original camp musical. “I was manic in my will to make this happen,” the California native says from her NYC hotel room. “Everyone said no again and again and again.”
It wasn’t until Gordon sent the short to producer Jessica Elbaum, whom she had met on the set of Booksmart, that the narrative began to shift. Initially, the plan was for a more established director to helm the script until Gordon, who had never directed a feature before, got up the courage to advocate for herself over a sushi dinner with Elbaum. “I remember eating edamame, and my hands were shaking,” she says. Elbaum was on board, telling Gordon, “I’ve seen that you’ve wanted this, and I’m really proud of you for vocalizing it.” Then it was go time.
Throughout the “organized chaos” of filming, Gordon lived in a house in New Jersey with her three co-creators, somewhat mimicking a real camp experience. “We didn’t have air conditioning all the time, which was very difficult because I sweat a lot,” she jokes. “I was the only woman in the house with three men, but I was able to shower first. I’m very thankful for that.”
Once shooting wrapped and the editing process began, Gordon started watching The Bear. “I hadn’t seen something so original, authentic, and unfussy. I was so inspired by it, and it became my favorite show.” So she was shocked—and still is to this day—when she was offered the part of Claire without an audition or a chemistry test with Allen White. “I have to audition for everything else, and I don’t get anything,” she says with a laugh. “This was a very beautiful thing.” Acting in the series alongside her Theater Camp costar Ayo Edebiri was just the icing on the cake.
Despite the sleepiness, Gordon is eager for moviegoers and theatergoers alike to see her film and has been relishing the moment over NYC pizza, despite a gluten allergy (yes, her stomach perpetually hurts). And she’s determined this won’t be the last time we see her in front of or behind the camera, something I have no doubt will hold true. “I’m an actress,” she says of taking the reins on future projects. “I can just pretend I’m not scared.”
Glamour: Did you always want to write and direct, in addition to acting?
Molly Gordon: I had a little too much energy as a child. I had a dress-up box and was always making up stories. I remember my parents showing me films that I was too young to see, like The Graduate, Silkwood, and Anchorman, which I think I saw when I was 11. I was so fascinated by every element of the filmmaking process, whether it be the visuals or the score, and wanted to be in the pot of that creativity. I just didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do within it.
What was it like to write Theater Camp with three other people?
We wrote the movie during COVID, mostly on Zoom. We had this insane Google Doc and would just sit on Zoom for seven hours at a time and write down every single idea that we had. I think at one point it was 300 pages of crazy stories about our theater experience. And then over a six-month period, we crafted the story together. I love collaboration. Even though a lot of people might think that writing a script with four people would be too many people, I really enjoyed the process. We would never go down the road of a bad idea because someone would say, “Molly, that’s not good. We’re not going to do that.” And it would push me to be better.
How did you most relate to Rebecca-Diane?
I think Rebecca needs to be on medication, like, tomorrow. I’m very goofy and silly, and felt that if I was going to write myself a character, I should write something where I get to be wild. I’ve ended up playing softer characters, but I’m a kooky person, so it was fun to get to show that side of myself. I was directing in upstate New York with children and was like, “I need to be a Jewish woman with frizz.” There was no vanity. I had to be very honest and free in this character.
What was the biggest challenge of the Theater Camp experience?
The biggest challenge of the movie was the editing process. Our financiers made it clear they wanted us to apply to Sundance and try to make the deadline, but we shot the film over the summer and the Sundance deadline is at the end of September, early October. So that was a really quick turnaround. Nick and I sat with our editor in a closet in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and I think the hair on my legs had grown so much that it was poking through my sweatpants. We were like monks getting this done. It was so hard, but I also loved that part. I loved being monofocused in that way, but I would not recommend editing on that timeline. If you’re trying to get into Sundance, I would suggest shooting your movie in the spring.
Did you always plan to play Rebecca-Diane?
I was always going to play her, but I love ensemble films so much and was obsessed with all of the other characters in the movie. In our first cut, I think I had cut myself fully out of the film, which is funny. You’d think that an actress directing herself would feature tons of vain closeups on her face.
What’s your favorite snack on set?
Hands down, peanut M&M’s. Nothing better. When I’m at a Broadway show, I always get a white wine and eanut M&M’s, and eat the entire thing. I feel like they’re healthy because there’s protein, but they’re not.
What was your favorite costume from Theater Camp?
I told our costume designer Michelle Lee that I wanted to look like a religious woman who shopped at the mall. I wanted a Hasidic-fairy vibe, and she really nailed that. I love a clog. I loved the green look that I wear at the end of the film, which is one of the ugliest outfits I’ve ever seen.
You filmed Theater Camp with Ayo Edibiri, who would go on to become your costar in season two of The Bear. At the time, did you know that you would be working together again after Theater Camp wrapped?
Ayo’s first day on Theater Camp was the day that The Bear [season one] came out. I remember being in our hair and makeup cabin, and she was like, “This show just came out. What do you think people’s reactions will be?” It’s crazy to think she didn’t know how much of a success it would be. But no, I had no idea. I’m a really lucky person that I got to be on that show and work with Ayo again.
How did your role on The Bear come about?
I worked with Chris [Storer, the creator of The Bear] five years ago on Ramy and reached out to him after I watched the first season. I know how long he’d been trying to get the show made, so I texted him and said, “This is my favorite thing I’ve ever seen. I’m so proud of you. I would die to be a part of it. I’d even play the role of the napkin.” I actually forgot that when we were filming Ramy, he’d said to me, “We’re going to collaborate again.” Chris and I knew that we had a really beautiful working dynamic. Even while I was directing Theater Camp, I drew on my experience of working with him because he creates such a beautiful space to be creative. So when I was offered the show, I weirdly wasn’t as nervous because I knew I’d be working with Chris. If it hadn’t been with him, I would have projectile vomited immediately.
What did you know about the character you’d be playing?
I didn’t know anything about the role when I signed on. Once they sent me the scripts and I started reading, I couldn’t believe they would put me in the same room as Jeremy Allen White. My slob self? How dare they? I was very nervous because he is such a brilliant actor, and I wanted to live up to his talent. But I trusted that Chris knew we would have a nice flow.
How was working with Jeremy Allen White?
Our first day of shooting together was the refrigerator scene. The first time I met him, I felt that excitement of meeting an actor that you admire, but I also felt like I had known him for so long. He’s such a generous, available person, whereas you have to pull so many other actors out of their shells. He was like, “I’m in this with you.” I immediately felt like there was something really good there, and I felt safe in that dynamic. I guess Chris knew.
In what ways do you admire Claire?
I think Claire is a very good person, and it’s what I try to be and fail at sometimes. It was really lovely to get to play someone who just wants to be in a relationship where people are good to each other. For some reason, that feels like such a radical thing. I’m not always good—we can’t be good all the time.
I also love that she’s like, “Why’d you give me the wrong number?” She’s like, “You just talked to me probably for two hours and we stared at each other at the grocery store. Then you gave me a fake number? Are you fucking serious, you loser? Seriously?” I like that she has chutzpah, is forward, and believes that you can have work-life balance. I struggle with that. Claire is an ER doctor and wants to have a relationship too. That’s beautiful. I think I connect sometimes to Carmy in that it’s really hard to have both.
Do you think there’s a future for Claire and Carmy?
I hope so. I don’t know. I believe there can be one, but I also don’t know if that’s the story that Chris wants to write. At the end of the day, I just want Carmy to find peace and work through his incredibly dark family trauma. I would love to continue to be a part of the show—but if this was all I did too, I would feel really lucky.
If there was a superlative for you on set, what would it be?
Most likely to fall.
What was your favorite scene to film in The Bear?
I really liked the group scene when Carmy brings me back to the kitchen and everyone is screaming at each other. It was such a pinch-me moment, where I was like, “I’m on my favorite show!” I had to remember to act because I was like, “There’s Ayo. There’s Abby Elliott. Everyone’s acting. This is so cool.”
Is there an actor you’ve always wanted to meet?
Oh, I really want to meet Barbra Streisand, and I would say, “I love you.” But also, I don’t know. Sometimes I don’t want to meet my heroes because I have no cool as a human.
What did you buy with your first big paycheck?
I once got advice from an older actress that every time you get a job, you should buy yourself something to commemorate it, even if it’s small. I bought myself a little ring from Steven Allen for this Melissa McCarthy movie I did called Life of the Party. It was $200, and it felt crazy that I was able to buy that for myself. I think I lost it within about 24 hours and was able to retrieve it at a Juice Press.
What will you buy to celebrate Theater Camp?
A lot of eye cream because my eye bags are through the roof. When I first watched a teeny bit of The Bear, I was like, “That is a tired woman. Thank God I’m playing a doctor.”
SAG-AFTRA members are currently on strike; as part of the strike, union actors are not promoting their film and TV projects. This interview was conducted prior to the strike.