VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: Chef Courtney McBroom On Working With Brie Larson On ‘Lessons In Chemistry’

In a new uInterview, chef Courtney McBroom spoke about what it was like to work as a cooking consultant and with her friend Brie Larson on the Apple TV+ series, Lessons with Chemistry. 

Throughout the creation of the series, McBroom worked as a food consultant in collaboration with the director, writers, producers and Larson to make sure that the food was ready to go on screen. 

“We wanted it to pop off the screen and how we wanted it to facilitate the story of Elizabeth Zott because it’s kind of its own character on the show, all of the food. It’s a very important line throughout the whole series,” McBroom explained. 

She described that although she had a lot of fun on set, the most time-consuming part was making lasagna, as it comes up multiple times throughout the storyline. 

“Lasagna happens throughout the whole series and so I was just constantly making lasagna, so much lasagna. Because every time you see a lasagna on screen, we have 20 more waiting behind it because there are multiple takes of things and they all need to look exactly the same.”

She and Larson worked together, which she described as “amazing” due to them being friends for a long time.

She praised Larson for her work on the show, as the two had never collaborated on a project before. 

“I obviously know she’s an amazing talent but actually seeing her in action, working in her element was such a treat,” she said. “And I was just in awe of how I’m like, ‘Oh my God, she is also amazing.’ And I’m seeing it happen in real time and it was so great to see that.”

McBroom recalled that the strongest message she received from the series was one of tenacity. She could see how Larson’s character showcased this quality, and she felt inspired by it. 

“You see her coming up against wall after wall, being told, ‘No you can’t do that,'” she said. “But she always chooses herself first, she stands strongly in her conviction of who she is, she doesn’t change for anybody, she knows who she is and she follows her intuition down the path that appears before her even though everyone else is telling her maybe it’s a horrible idea.”