Liza Colón-Zayas racked up her first screen credit almost exactly 30 years ago, in an episode of New York Undercover. She went on to appear in more than two dozen TV series, from Law & Order and Sex and the City to House and Dexter. She was one of the passengers in Paul Greengrass’s Oscar-nominated United 93. She starred in a widely acclaimed production of Othello with the late Philip Seymour Hoffman and, about a decade later, swept the off-Broadway awards circuit for her tour de force performance in the ensemble piece Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven.

Yet, unless you were particularly tapped into the world of New York theater, Colón-Zayas’s name is one you likely became familiar with only recently, thanks to The Bear. Colón-Zayas stars as Tina Marrero, the veteran line cook who—if a bit reluctantly—finds new purpose in life as her new boss, Carmy (Jeremy Allen White), institutes major changes to her workplace.

Settling in for a chat on this week’s Little Gold Men (listen or read below), Colón-Zayas is in Chicago filming The Bear’s third (and, reportedly, fourth) season, fresh off her first SAG Award win as part of the FX series’ ensemble and eager for what’s ahead. Even if she can’t share much in that department just yet, the smile she wears from beginning to end suggests that, like her character, Colón-Zayas will continue to blossom.

Vanity Fair: We’re talking to you from Chicago, is that right? Give me a day in the life when you’re in production on The Bear.

Liza Colón-Zayas: A day in the life in Chicago. Normally when I’m working, I am up and on set while it’s still dark outside, and then we shoot really quickly. Chris Storer and the whole crew are just the most amazing, kind, supportive crew you can ask for. It’s a joy. And then I’m a bit of a hermit, so after I’m done, I like to just come home and disconnect—get ready for the next thing.

You’re filming seasons three and four at the same time. Am I right about that?

[Pauses] Three.

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Got it, got it. What can you tell me about what you’re excited about, where Tina is going next?

Without giving a whole lot away, we’re going to see more of what we love and what stresses us out about The Bear. We’re going to see more of the backstories and the secret life and the challenges connected to keeping this family together.

I wanted to ask you about the experience this past winter of going from ceremony to ceremony. At the Critics Choice Awards, you actually spoke on behalf of the cast when it won best comedy. What did it feel like to be a part of that?

It was surreal, like a roller coaster. Even though I had gone to a couple of the awards during season one, other people were winning most of them. So to be able to win these, like best ensemble—that moment of being on that stage after spending most of my adult life watching others, and rarely others who look like me or look like us, I just wanted to take all of it in. And then to go backstage and be ushered through this avalanche of press and interviews and celebration was so trippy. Because we’d just won our SAG Award, I didn’t get to see my idol Barbra Streisand come up [to accept the lifetime achievement award]. I was telling my agent, “I feel like my life has come full circle. I’ve been singing along to Barbra since I was a child, and here I am backstage, and I don’t get to see her.”

Because you won an award!

That’s right. It could often feel like an out-of-body experience. In the moment, I’m so busy trying to process what’s taking place that it’s hard to just be present and experience all of the details. I’m working on that now.

Can you take me back to when this role first came your way? What were your hopes for Tina as a character? I’m sure you couldn’t have imagined this career impact.

I auditioned in a self-tape because we were deep in the pandemic. I hadn’t read the script; I didn’t know anything about it. It was simply reading one or two scenes. We came to Chicago in the summer, and it was just so much fun. It seemed like it was all too much fun to go further. I’m always waiting for the other shoe to drop. When we saw the first rough cut of the pilot, I was like, Wow, this is really stressful, and that’s not what we were feeling, or at least what I was feeling, while we were shooting. I thought, Oh, maybe this is too specific. I did not expect to be where we are now, where people of all walks of life feel connected and seen through it. I’m so proud of it.

You had more material in season two. How would you describe the process of fleshing Tina out, and also of just getting more to do as an actor?

It has been one that feels very safe. Even though Tina may be a mystery—she’s a person of few words—I’m able to trust that these writers know where I’m going more than I do. I have so much life experience that mirrors Tina’s, whether it’s this industry or the restaurant industry that I don’t know a lot about. In being a woman of color in male-dominated industries—“not young enough,” “the stereotypical Latin beauty,” all of the isms, and being left out and not being included in so many rooms—I instantly understood Tina’s armor.

My theater company was born out of a reaction of not being seen. Latinos were not being cast as Latinos, so we created our own community, our own family, where we could work on what we wanted to in our way—somewhere that’s safe, without the criticism, without being stared through some outside lens, and with that safety and with that joy. People like Philip [Seymour] Hoffman wanted to be a part of this. I was able to find a community that was safe, that saw me, and then learned from the best. I feel that that’s Tina’s journey.

Just before The Bear, I caught you in In Treatment. It was the first time onscreen that I’d really gotten to see what you can do, in these really intense two-handers with Uzo Aduba. How do you reflect on that opportunity?

I was a fan of In Treatment when it was first airing over a decade ago. It felt the most like theater one could get on television, with everything, for the most part, happening in that one room with just two people. It certainly was more intense than theater because they were shooting two episodes a week. Uzo is a superhero. I was in on every fourth episode, and you’re learning 22 pages of dialogue, and yet she did [four times that] with grace and generosity and kindness to everyone.

Before this opportunity came around, I was rewatching episodes of In Treatment, watching Blair Underwood—I never imagined it would happen. It was deep in the COVID pandemic, so there was nowhere to go. It’s just one of those things that is another miracle and a blessing. Things happen, I guess, when they’re supposed to happen. With In Treatment and with The Bear, this journey, it’s been worth the wait.

Before this run, you’ve said you faced 1,000 rejections for TV and film. Did it feel at all strange that suddenly things were happening? What did you attribute in your mind to things finally paying off?

I had to accept it when I was ready. I had to grow and I had to get to trust myself. Even with all these years of doing theater, it’s a different medium. With the camera being up close like this in a way that there’s so much I have no control over, I would go into a panic and feel exposed. I needed to grow and know who I am and know who my value as an artist is and as a human being. As that started to happen over the years, and with a little more experience and a little more work, the folks who knew my work in theater and who knew what I was capable of were willing to take a risk on me. I can’t just put all the blame on the industry crushing me. I had to trust myself and I had to believe in what I had to offer.

I imagine your theater company was important along those lines too. What was it like to build that, and how did that impact you to get to where you are now?

I was out of school. I had two or three different jobs, and I saw an article in Backstage that said, “Excellent Latino Actors Wanted.” I didn’t know if I fit, but I was like, I’ve got to do something, I need to try. I went and auditioned a few times, and I got in. I was one of 13 people who got in. It was about heart. It was about a willingness to take risks, an ensemble, working together on supporting each other and working on things outside of our comfort zones. It was just about having an actor’s gym that began initially Latine-focused and Latine-centered—then it organically had to expand.

You had this island of misfit toys. Like Tina, we didn’t have these fancy credentials, but I had an artistic home. And over the years, that heart and that push to elevate each other and believe in each other—you had to be willing to give. None of us were getting paid for a long time. We were putting productions up with $500 budgets. My home phone number was the box office number on my voicemail. We swept, we painted. Everybody was doing everything. There was no, “I’m the cool kid, so I don’t do that.” You were cleaning the toilet, you were painting the set, or, “Bye.” Those values of giving it your all is what has sustained me and also helped me be a bit of a badass and be like, Y’all ain’t getting rid of me. I’m staying in this, in spite of it. I’ve seen members rise and plateau, but I don’t compare myself. They helped me to cherish what is unique and quirky and offbeat about me.

You called it an artistic home. As you were going out on all these TV and film auditions and not getting the same feedback that you’re getting in the theater, I would imagine there was some validation in that you were doing good work there.

Yeah. When young people ask me for advice, I always say, “Do not compare yourself. That is the worst thing. Even if you have a friend who is the same type, you are you.” I’ve still got to repeat that to myself. Trust that people you respect—actors, directors, casting agents—that if you are doing the best, they will remember and keep you in mind. It may take a long time, but I feel like that’s why I’m here today, because I was able to keep digging deep and growing and honing and believing that somebody somewhere would see it. My mother would say, “Don’t give up. Look at Oprah [Winfrey], look at Whoopi [Goldberg]. You can make it.” If there’s people you respect, really respect, and they are inspired by you, eventually—don’t give up.

This interview has been edited and condensed.