When Edwin Lee Gibson 鈥�12 was cast as Ebraheim in 鈥淭he Bear,鈥� he was given a one-line description of his character: 鈥淎 mystery who鈥檚 lived 1,000 lives.鈥�
鈥淭hat鈥檚 all Christopher Storer said about him,鈥� Gibson says, quoting the show鈥檚 creator. 鈥淏ut that was all I needed. It gave me a lot of space to play.鈥�
These days, viewers know Ebraheim as the stoic East African war veteran who runs the takeout sandwich window. He is a long-time employee of 鈥淭he Bear,鈥� a Chicago restaurant undergoing a transformation. 鈥淲ith as few lines as Ebra has, I wanted to be able to weight those lines and give people a sense of intrigue about him,鈥� he says. 鈥淢y goal is for people to see this mystery and really wonder who he is.鈥�
One thing that鈥檚 not a mystery? The incredible success of the show, which has become a global phenomenon. It recently garnered 23 Emmy nominations, including 鈥楤est Comedy Series.鈥� The show was also named Television Program of the Year for two years by the American Film Institute, and received accolades from the Golden Globes Awards, the Screen Actor鈥檚 Guild Awards, the Peabody Awards, and the Critics Choice Awards, among others.
Gibson, who has appeared in 104 theater productions, credits the show鈥檚 success to its talented cast as well as the realistic way it portrays the challenges of running a restaurant in a city like Chicago. He says viewers also appreciate the way the show deals with trauma in men鈥檚 lives.
For the cast, the show鈥檚 global popularity was a surprise. 鈥淚f you ask any of us, we didn鈥檛 have huge expectations,鈥� Gibson says. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 why it works so well because we were just making the show. The response has been so wonderful, so amazing. We love bringing it to everyone because of the response.鈥�
Discovering Acting
Gibson grew up in Houston, Texas, the younger of two boys, whose cousin also lived with them for a while. As a child, he stuttered. Rather than feeling ashamed, he became fascinated with speech patterns.
鈥淚鈥檓 one of those stutterers who ran toward language and not away from it,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 always thought if I had dysfunction of speech pattern, then wow, all these people have a speech pattern. I鈥檝e always been in this dance with language as a stutterer.鈥�
Gibson discovered his love of acting at 16, when he landed his first paid acting gig playing the Tin Man in a summer production of 鈥淭he Wiz.鈥� His fascination with speech patterns soon became the basis for his acting method.
Gibson鈥檚 mother, a social worker trained in classical voice, discouraged him from acting, afraid he would struggle. But his father, a garbageman who fixed cars on the side, encouraged him. 鈥淗e told me, 鈥業 don鈥檛 know anything about that acting, but it鈥檚 your life, do what you want to do,鈥欌�� Gibson said.
When he won the 2006 OBIE (off-Broadway theater) award for outstanding performance in 鈥淭he Seven,鈥� his mother went to New York City to see the show. Later, after dinner, she told him, 鈥淚鈥檓 so glad you didn鈥檛 listen to me. I was wrong.鈥�
Sadly, his father never saw his son perform and died six months before Gibson鈥檚 first national TV commercial aired, a pitch for Levi鈥檚 501 jeans. 鈥淗e鈥檇 always say I鈥檒l come to the next one, but he never did,鈥� Gibson said. 鈥淚t just wasn鈥檛 his thing. But he was totally supportive.鈥�
Today, in honor of his father, he always wears navy blue pants on the set of 鈥淭he Bear.鈥� Even his watch 鈥� both the band and the face 鈥� is the same shade of blue.
鈥淭hey were the same color of blue he wore to go to work as a garbage man,鈥� Gibson said. 鈥淚 always tell people 鈥業 don鈥檛 do what my dad did for a living but I do what I do the way he did what he did.鈥� He was a hard worker. So that鈥檚 how I attack my work. Those pants are always a reminder. It鈥檚 not my favorite color but it鈥檚 my favorite memory of him.鈥�
Life on the Stage
Gibson鈥檚 strong work ethic enabled him to become an actor without taking a single acting class. 鈥淚 learned (acting) in the theater from some really fine artists and kept the curiosity of a 6-year-old,鈥� Gibson says.
Instead, he got his B.A. in 2012 from 91黑料网 in the arts and social theory, while acting. He credits his mentor, Christiane Warren, with helping him navigate his way to a degree. 鈥淭he flexibility that 91黑料网 Empire allows people at whatever juncture they鈥檙e at in their life is really wonderful,鈥� he says. In 2016, he got an MFA in screen writing from Point Park University in Pittsburgh.
As an actor, Gibson has had a nomadic life, living in New York City, Pittsburgh, Ithaca, NY, and now Los Angeles, while performing on stages across the country and in the U.K. and Paris. More recently, he starred in the play 鈥淔etch Clay, Make Man,鈥� which won him the best lead performance award from the LA Drama Critics鈥� Circle for his portrayal of the black actor Stepin' Fetchit.
Gibson has also appeared in films such as 鈥淢arshall,鈥� 鈥淢om and Dad,鈥� and 鈥淭he Visitor.鈥� His TV appearances include recurring roles on 鈥淔argo鈥� and 鈥淯nPrisoned,鈥� as well as 鈥淪hameless,鈥� 鈥淟aw and Order: SVU,鈥� and 鈥淐hicago P.D.鈥�
Everywhere he lived, he taught theater and writing to youths. He ran the Musical Theater Workshop at the Rye Arts Center in Westchester County and taught creative writing and acting to at-risk LGBTQI youths in Pittsburgh. In New York City, he led workshops on creative writing at Riker鈥檚 Island. 鈥淲hether I鈥檓 working with kids in Pittsburgh or inmates in Rikers, I want them to know that no matter where you are, your voice is important,鈥� he says.
It was a lesson he learned early on from his father, that what he had to say mattered, despite his stutter. 鈥淚鈥檝e never had an issue with my stutter,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 actually my superpower because I recognize the way language works in a way that people who don鈥檛 stutter don鈥檛. Understanding that helps me understand characters, that there鈥檚 a rhythm to how we speak, and that everyone speaks in a certain pattern.鈥�
Those same skills are at work in his next project. In December, Gibson will star in and direct 鈥渁 pink and red dress made of satin鈥overed in flowers, mostly roses,鈥� which he also wrote, as an homage to his mom. The story is set in a sleepy border town and centers around a young woman who鈥檚 a lounge singer and facing the uncertainty of love. She has a dress that holds the secret to her family鈥檚 past.
鈥淢y brother who passed away about a year and a half ago, always thought I鈥檇 be a writer, but I didn鈥檛 see how that could manifest into a livelihood,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 could see myself making a living as an actor more than I could a writer, which might be odd to some people. Now I鈥檝e come around, and I do both.鈥�
