It’s a lot more difficult working in a restaurant than it looks — even if you’re acting as a server.
British actress Ella Purnell stars as Tess, a young woman who moves from Ohio to New York City after college. And like many recent grads with big ideas and small budgets, she gets a job as a server at a trendy New York restaurant. Actually, she has to train a while before she can be a real server, and she starts out as a back waiter.
To prepare for the role, Purnell went through two weeks of “boot camp” to learn all about fine dining.
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“We had two weeks of, like, boot camp, where we learned how to serve, basically,” Purnell told TheWrap in a recent interview.
“It went from everything from like how to fold napkins to and how to lay a table from opening a bottle of wine, pouring it correctly, how to do a three-plate carry, the correct way to serve,” Purnell explained. They even had a front of house consultant.
“You become physically, like, so tired,” Purnell said. “Those plates are heavy. Your back, your shoulders, your arms.”
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“Sweetbitter” is based on Stephanie Danler’s novel of the same name, and readers of the book will know this sounds a lot like Tess’ experience.
“I felt like I was going through this with Tess,” Purnell said.
Watch the full interview above.
“Sweetbitter” premieres on Starz on May 6.
