Jeremy Allen White more than doubles salary to $750,000 per episode of The Bear after his raunchy Calvin Klein underwear campaign – but says being in the kitchen is scarier than wrestling in the Iron Claw

Yes, Chef! Actor Jeremy Allen White, who set the world on fire last week with that Calvin Klein underwear campaign, has more than doubled his money to return as Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto for a third season of the critically acclaimed drama The Bear.

White, 32, will begin filming in Chicago in late February. Rumor has it that he is already in the kitchen, honing his knife skills at the Michelin-starred Pasjoli restaurant in Santa Monica, California, where he lives nearby.

Sources say he and the rest of the cast received substantial raises to reprise their roles on the hit show, with White’s pay skyrocketing from $350,000 per episode to $750,000. His publicists did not return requests for comment.

The pay bump means New Yorker – and trained dancer – White, who won a second Golden Globe for the role on Sunday, is now in the upper echelon of the TV industry’s highest-paid stars, alongside the likes of Kevin Costner and Brie Larson. .

The Bear was named best musical or comedy TV series at the awards ceremony – and White’s co-star Ayo Edebiri won the best actress in a musical or comedy TV series gong.

The program follows troubled chef Carmy, who takes over his brother’s sandwich restaurant and reopens it as a fine-dining restaurant. The creators have confirmed that Carmy’s look – the messy curls and equally white T-shirt – is based on the iconic style of British chef Marco Pierre White, as depicted in the 1990 book White Heat.

Last season ended with Carmy being freed from the walk-in refrigerator he was trapped in. But it wasn’t a happy moment (spoiler alert!). While cooling his heels, he missed friends and family’s service for his restaurant’s relaunch and managed to accidentally insult his girlfriend and break up with him.

The show was a surprise success for FX when it debuted to great success on Hulu in 2022, and on Disney+ in the UK. Last season Jamie Lee Curtis, Bob Odenkirk, Will Poulter and Olivia Colman were guest stars, and there’s speculation that even bigger names will pop up in season three.

Nick Grad, the president of FX Entertainment, describes the show as a “cultural phenomenon.”

Last year, White split from his wife Addison Timlin, 32, and it has been reported that he agreed to daily alcohol testing when his daughters Ezer, five, and Dolores, three, are in his care as part of a custody agreement, plus to two meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous per week. He is now in a relationship with Spanish singer Rosalia, 31.

Brooklyn-born actor White also stars opposite Zac Efron in The Iron Claw, a film about the Von Erich wrestling family. He built on 40 pounds of muscle mass to play the role of troubled wrestler Kerry Von Erich, eating “almost constantly” and training for months.

The film’s director, Sean Durkin, says that of the entire cast, White had the most authentic talent in the ring. “He could wrestle professionally!” Durkin said. “He had a natural ability that our wrestling coaches said was very, very rare.”

White added that performing at The Bear is his toughest gig yet. “I don’t know how you compare the intensity of the kitchen to the intensity of professional wrestling. “It seemed like the kitchen wouldn’t be competitive, like it would be an obvious answer, but I find both industries incredibly competitive and anxious,” he said.

“I had less fear on the set of The Iron Claw than, I think, on the set of The Bear.”

British actor Harris Dickinson – who played a model in the 2022 Cannes winner Triangle Of Sadness – also stars in The Iron Claw, playing David Von Erich. He fondly remembers going to see WWE wrestling as a boy. ‘Every time WWE came to London I would go and watch it with my friend. I was a bit of a fanboy. “I wanted (American wrestler) Rey Mysterio to kick me in the head,” he said.

The film, from super indie studio A24, will be released in UK cinemas on February 9.