Tina Marrero
Tina Marrero, sometimes T for short, is a fictional character on the FX Network television series The Bear. Created by Christopher Storer and played by Liza Colón-Zayas since the show's premiere in 2022, Tina works as a cook at the Berzatto family restaurant in the River North neighborhood of Chicago. Liza Colón-Zayas won an Emmy Award for her portrayal of Tina, a working mom whose interest in the culinary arts develops in tandem with her emotional relationship with chefs Carmy Berzatto and Sydney Adamu.
Biography
The character of Tina has been described as "beloved and snarky." Tina is a "middle-aged, working-class Latina." Tina worked as a payroll administrator at a confectionery for a decade before she was laid off from that job. She struggled to find a new opportunity, hampered by limited skill set and likely ageism in a market indisposed to hire middle-aged women. First hired by Michael "Mikey" Berzatto to work at the Original Beef of Chicago sandwich shop about five years before the events of the series, Tina initially revolts at the new kitchen regime installed by Mikey's brother and heir, nationally acclaimed chef Carmy Berzatto. Tina initially does not respond well to the changes implemented at the Beef by Chef Carmen and his new-hire culinary partner Chef Sydney. Tina's "icy" response is driven by fear of change; the kitchen revamp mirrors neighborhood gentrification in Chicago that imperils her job and her ability to contribute to her household finances. For most of season one she wears an apron that Mikey gave her. Costume designer Christina Spiridakis bought it off Amazon.com and "included it to represent the hodgepodge business Michael was running. 'It's Tina's house as much as it's Richie's...Mrs. Always Right is who she is."After coming around to the merits of the new system, Tina becomes a devoted supporter of Carm and Syd, who repay her loyalty and attest to their faith in her potential by sending her to culinary school while the building is being remodeled from the seedy Beef into a new fine-dining destination called the Bear. In season two, Chef Berzatto also gives her his own high-end hand-forged Yoshimi Echizen knife to use and keep. Tina loved Mikey, who gave her a job when no one else would, as depicted in the season three flashback episode "Napkins," and she now embraces an equally warm relationship with his surviving brother. According to Colón-Zayas, "Tina is in love with this family, with her family." She could possibly look for work elsewhere but her dedication to the found family of the restaurant is the reason she continues to push her old limits through seasons three and four. In season four the insecure saboteur is finally secure enough to be vulnerable, as she wants desperately to serve her restaurant family by increasing her ability to efficiently prepare dishes for service to the guests of the Bear: "Over the course of the season, she gets frustrated with herself about her speed, but reaches out to multiple coworkers for strategies and advicea sign of vulnerability and growth, as the Tina we met in season one was stubborn and unable to ask for help. Eventually, she learns to beat the clock."
Tina is married; her husband David is played by the actress' real-life husband, actor David Zayas. Colón-Zayas described her reaction to discovering Tina and David's onscreen marriage was ideal: "Getting to learn about her story, it was beautiful. I felt like, Yeah, why can’t she have this beautiful, loving, supportive man at home? Yes, she’s dealing with the day-to-day struggles of gentrification, layoffs, and the rent being jacked up—those are the real pressures of being working poor. But even in my brain, I hadn’t assumed what her home life was like, so I loved being caught off-guard." In another interview Liza Colón-Zayas said she had expected Tina to be a single mom but the character they created was very similar to her long-time partner: "I just loved how on point they were about himthis big, strong teddy bear, gentle. He's played a lot of villains in the past and they nailed him his personality so perfectly." David works as a doorman; the couple shares an apartment with their teenage son Louie. Tina preps Puerto Rican dishes including pollo guisado and carne guisado to simmer in the Crock-Pot during the workday for family dinner. Tina is English–Spanish bilingual and a talented singer, as evidenced by her season-two karaoke performance of "Before the Next Teardrop Falls".
Tina does not drive.