Jeremy Allen White, Meryl Streep and More Stars Who’ve Played Chefs Onscreen

Yes, Chef! These actors looked at home playing pros in the kitchen. Here’s what inspired them — and how they prepped.

Jeremy Allen White – The Bear

“I spent a lot of time as a fly on the wall, and I’d help them prep where you can’t really screw up anything too badly,” the 34-year-old said of shadowing the cooks at Pasjoli — an elevated French restaurant in Santa Monica, Calif. — before taking on the role of the obsessive, talented chef Carmy in the Hulu hit. “I like spending time in these places, I like all the people that work there, and I like all learning about this craft.”

Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia

Growing up, the 75-year-old, who played the ebullient Julia Child in the 2009 movie, knew nothing about fine dining. “I remember when I was 10 years old, going to the little girl’s house up the street, and she and her mother were sitting at the kitchen table doing something… She told me they were making mashed potatoes,” Meryl said. “And I said, ‘What do you mean? Mashed potatoes come in a box!’ They were peeling boiled potatoes, and I had never seen a potato before.”

Vince Vaughn – Nonnas

“Either eat a lot before or be ready to go eat something afterwards, because the food is spectacular,” the 55-year-old bragged of his new Netflix movie about a grieving man who decides to open a restaurant staffed by Italian grandmothers, also known as nonnas. Talia Shire, Lorraine Bracco, Brenda Vaccaro and Susan Sarandon play the women who bring their family dishes — and spicy personalities — to the table. As Vince says, “Food is love.”

Jon Favreau – Chef

In the 2014 flick, the 58-year-old plays a brilliant chef who ditches his stuffy restaurant job to open a food truck. Jon also directed the indie production on a tight budget. “We would eat what the stuff after we filmed,” He said of the food prepared by famed chef Roi Choy that was used on set. “We really made an effort not to waste. Even when we broke down the pig, all those pig parts went home with different crew members.”

Ralph Fiennes – The Menu

To prep to play an exacting, murderous chef catering to the ultra-rich in the darkly funny 2022 horror film, the 62-year-old consulted with three-star Michelin chef Dominique Crenn. “She gave me a lot of tips on how you behave, how you move, how you talk to people. The shorthand of communication in that level of kitchen,” Ralph recalled. Not so much the actual cooking, though: “Don’t ask me to chop an onion!”