S2 CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS

TESS (Ella Purnell) No longer new to New York or her job, Tess is now learning how to use both her voice and her personal power. She hungers for knowledge and pushes herself to embrace every new experience — all while trying to navigate her lust for Jake, her relationship with Simone, and the increasingly dangerous dynamics within the restaurant.

SIMONE (Caitlin FitzGerald) Simone is the embodiment of self-possession, beauty and authority at the restaurant. She has an effortless command over the guests, her co-workers and her wine list. But what her perfect facade conceals is the fact that she is entirely stuck at the restaurant.

HOWARD (Paul Sparks) Howard is the general manager of the restaurant as well as father figure and mentor to his staff. Poised and thoughtful, he is a man who appears to be exactly where he wants to be. With his impeccably tailored suits comes a certain degree of power, with which he may have grown a little too comfortable.

JAKE (Tom Sturridge) Jake is a moody, mysterious bartender, who is deeply attached to Simone. Jake arouses an overwhelming lust in Tess and plays a large role in her sexual awakening, which further complicates his relationship with Simone.

ARIEL ("ARI") (Eden Epstein) Ari is a savvy and adventurous back waiter, with a bottomless wallet and a lonely penthouse apartment. In lieu of a real family, Ari’s coworkers have become the most important thing in her life.

HEATHER (Jasmine Mathews) Heather is a smart, skilled server, and the only person of color in the front of house. Reckoning with this fact, along with the role her class plays in her identity, pushes her to consider ambitions outside of the restaurant.

SASHA (Daniyar) Sasha is both an outrageous and brutally honest back waiter — a gay immigrant who holds an expiring U.S. visa and faces violence back home in Russia. After a bad fall in Season 1, Sasha is working to heal both his body and his head.

WILL

(Evan Jonigkeit) Will, a back waiter, was Tess’ first friend in the restaurant, and he still holds an unreciprocated torch for her. Sick of being seen as the poster child “nice guy,” Will grapples with his identity and seeks out opportunities to prove he has an edge.

EDDIE (Eric D. Hill) Eddie, now a line cook at 22W, worked his way up in kitchens without any formal training. He is highly ambitious and has a plan that involves running his own place someday. This long-term vision inspires Heather’s own views of her future, and the two connect over what it means to be a person of color at the restaurant.

NICKY (Todd Gearhart) Nicky is the restaurant’s longtime bartender and resident voice of wisdom, whose general unpretentiousness has been drawing people to the bar for decades. Nicky is set apart from much of the staff (and their accompanying drama) by the normalcy of his life outside the restaurant, with children and a wife of his own.

SCOTT (Jimmie Saito) Scott is the restaurant’s strong-minded, deadpan sous chef. His incredible kitchen skills represent a fresh new direction and future for the restaurant, but his innovative menu ideas are mostly rejected by Chef.

ETIENNE (William Abadie) Etienne is a French champagne maker and Simone’s ex-husband. In his 40s, he is handsome but weary. Since Simone left France — and him — all those years ago, Etienne has worked to create the grower champagne they dreamed of together.

MANNY (Gabriel Gutierrez) Manny is one of the 22W line cooks and somewhat of a trouble maker. He takes Santos under his wing as a fellow immigrant, but he will stop at nothing to rectify a situation he sees as unfair — even if it means throwing others under the bus.

SANTOS (Rafa Beato) Santos is the young dishwasher at 22W, a recent arrival from Puebla, Mexico. Though the front of house and back of house have a clear divide — one that can be especially tense — Santos and Tess bond over their shared newness and desire to craft a New York life for themselves.

ROSALYN (Sadie Scott) Rosalyn replaces Becky this season as the restaurant’s new hostess. Although not fully integrated into the server family the way Tess is, Rosalyn does become romantically involved with someone in the restaurant.

BECKY (Katerina Tannenbaum)

Slightly outside the bubble of Tess’ server family, Becky is young and beautiful, and she is the former hostess at 22W. A secret relationship with Howard resulted in Becky being transferred to a different restaurant, but it is unclear whether or not this means Howard and Becky are done for good.

MADDIE (Sandra Bernhard) Maddie Glover is the head chef and owner of the Sweetbitter restaurant. Launched to culinary fame at the age of 26 and now manning a global food empire, Maddie is driven and unapologetic. She may have turned more CEO than chef in recent years, but she is quick to remind her staff — Howard included — that it is her name on the menu.

SEASON TWO CAST BIOGRAPHIES

Ella Purnell (Tess) As a rising British actress with a diverse collection of roles highlighted across film, television and theater, Ella Purnell is one to watch. Purnell starred in director Tim Burton’s visually fantastical 2016 adaptation of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children with a leading breakout role as Emma opposite Eva Green and Asa Butterfield. Her other film credits include Fox Searchlight’s Never Let Me Go, Universal’s Kick-Ass 2 and Disney’s Maleficent. She has also had roles in independent films such as Churchill (with Brian Cox and John Slattery), The Journey Is the Destination (with Maria Bello) and Intruders (with Clive Owen and Daniel Brühl). Purnell is currently in production on “Belgravia,” an upcoming television series for ITV. She will also soon begin production on Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead for Netflix, playing Dave Bautista’s daughter. Last year, Purnell starred alongside Bill Nighy in BBC One’s three-part adaptation of Agatha Christie’s novel “Ordeal by Innocence,” directed by Sandra Goldbacher. On stage, Purnell led a performance in “Natives,” an original play by Glenn Waldron about teenagers coming of age in the digital world, which was directed by Rob Drummer at Southwark Playhouse in London.

Tom Sturridge (Jake) Tom Sturridge will next be seen in Dan Gilroy’s Velvet Buzzsaw alongside Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, John Malkovich, Toni Collette, Zawe Ashton, Billy Magnussen and Daveed Diggs. His theater credits include “1984” and “Orphans” (Tony Award® nomination) on Broadway, and “American Buffalo” (Olivier Award nomination) at the West End. Sturridge has been seen in the films Mary Shelley (opposite Elle Fanning), Journey’s End (with Paul Bettany and Sam Claflin), On the Road (as Allen Ginsberg), Far from the Madding Crowd (opposite Carey Mulligan), Song to Song (opposite Ryan Gosling) and Pirate Radio (opposite Philip Seymour Hoffman). His other television credits include BBC’s “The Hollow Crown” (alongside Benedict Cumberbatch and Dame Judi Dench).

Caitlin FitzGerald (Simone) Caitlin FitzGerald is currently shooting the second season of the HBO series “Succession.” She was last seen in the Starz series “Sweetbitter,” opposite Ella Purnell and Tom Sturridge, as well as the independent film The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then The Bigfoot, opposite Sam Elliot. Fitzgerald starred opposite Mackenzie Davis in Sophia Takal's independent film Always Shine, which premiered at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival and played at AFI Fest. In addition to starring in the third season of the Emmy®-nominated and Peabody Award–winning Lifetime series “UnREAL” as the fictional reality show’s first female suitor, she starred on the Showtime series “Masters of Sex,” opposite Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan. She also had a season-long arc on the finale season of SundanceTV’s “Rectify.” Fitzgerald’s other credits include Adult Beginners, in which she appeared opposite Nick Kroll, Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale for producer Mark Duplass and director Ross Katz; Nancy Meyers’ It’s Complicated; Whit Stillman’s Damsels in Distress; and Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock.

Paul Sparks (Howard) Paul Sparks is currently shooting a starring role in the new season of the Hulu series "Castle Rock," a thriller based on Stephen King’s novel set in the fictional Maine town and produced by Bad Robot. He recently completed production on Season 2 of “Sweetbitter.” The Starz drama series is based on the New York Times best-selling book by Stephanie Danler. Season 2 will premiere in July 2019.

Sparks earned a 2018 Lucille Lortel Award nomination, a Drama League Award nomination and an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for his performance in the off-Broadway production of “Edward Albee’s At Home at the Zoo: Homelife and The Zoo Story.” The play opened to rave reviews, with The Hollywood Reporter calling him a “force of nature.” Its run was subsequently extended through March 25, 2018.

That same year, Sparks starred in the anticipated limited series “Waco” opposite Taylor Kitsch, Michael Shannon, Julia Garner, Melissa Benoist and Andrea Riseborough. The series debuted as part of the original programming lineup for the new Paramount Network and premiered on January 24, 2018. Sparks also appeared in the drama thriller “Thoroughbreds,” directed by Cory Finley. The film was released by Focus Features on March 9, 2018. Additionally, Sparks guest starred on the hit Netflix series “The Crown” as Reverend Billy Graham.

At the end of 2017, Sparks appeared in the drama “The Greatest Showman,” alongside Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams, Zac Efron, Rebecca Ferguson and Zendaya. The film was released by 20th Century Fox on December 25, 2017 and went on to earn $424,779,402 at the worldwide box office.

From 2015 to 2017, Sparks appeared in the Netflix Original series “House of Cards” as the Underwoods’ provocative biographer, Thomas Yates. In 2016, Sparks earned an Emmy® nomination for his performance in the Drama Guest Actor category.

In 2016, Sparks appeared in the Starz series “The Girlfriend Experience,” which was produced by Steven Soderbergh. The series premiered on Starz on April 10, 2016. He was also a recurring character in the award-winning HBO miniseries “The Night Of.” The series premiered in June 2016. The same year, he starred in the Warner Brothers sci-fi drama Midnight Special, alongside Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton and Kirsten Dunst. This was his second collaboration with Jeff Nichols after Mud. The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 12, 2016, and it opened in theaters on March 18, 2016.

In the spring of 2016, Sparks concluded his run on stage in Sam Shepard’s Pulitzer Prize–winning off- Broadway production of “Buried Child,” alongside Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Rich Sommer, Taissa Farmiga and Nat Wolff. The play opened on February 17, 2016, and it had its final performance at The Pershing Square Signature Center on April 3, 2016. Sparks earned a nomination for a 2016 Lucille Lortel Award in the category of Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play for his performance.

In 2014, He completed his five-season run as Mickey Doyle in HBO’s award-winning series “Boardwalk Empire,” for which he won two Screen Actors Guild Awards in the category of Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

His distinguished work on stage has also earned him five Drama Desk Awards nominations in collaboration with some of theater’s brightest playwrights: Adam Rapp, Craig Wright and Stephen Belber.

Evan Jonigkeit (Will)

Evan Jonigkeit’s numerous film and television appearances include “Broad City,” “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” “Frontier,” “Girls,” “Easy,” X-Men: Days of Future Past, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot and Tallulah. He was nominated for an Emmy® Award in producing for “Stand for Rights,” a benefit for the ACLU. He was also part of the producing teams for the 2017 ESPY Awards as well as a number of films. In addition to “Sweetbitter” Season 2, he will next be seen in the feature film The Night House, opposite Rebecca Hall.

Eden Epstein (Ariel “Ari”) Eden Epstein was born and raised in Santa Monica, California, where she trained and performed under George Balanchine’s muse, Yvonne Mounsey, at the Westside School of Ballet. After sustaining a serious injury, she began to act. Epstein attended New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study and, upon graduating, immediately booked her first feature film, Blind, which was directed by Michael Mailer and in which she starred opposite Alec Baldwin and Demi Moore. Epstein is currently filming Omri Bezalel’s feature film Listen, in which she stars opposite Anthony DeSando. She is represented by Brillstein Entertainment Partners as well as Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner & Klein.

Jasmine Mathews (Heather) Jasmine Mathews starred as Heather McNamara in Paramount Network's remake of “Heathers” as well as in a lead guest role on “Blue Bloods.” She has appeared onstage in several productions with the Nevada Conservatory Theatre and the Baldwin Burroughs Theatre, playing Yazmin in “Water by the Spoonful,” Shelby in “Steel Magnolias” and Trisha in “Five Women Wearing the Same Dress.” Born in Houston, Texas, the former Miss Morehouse College and Miss Historically Black College and University graduated with a Masters of Fine Arts in theater from UNLV and attended the British American Drama Academy in London. Mathews is repped by The Gersh Agency and Red Letter Entertainment.

Daniyar (Sasha) After completing production on Season 2 of the Starz series “Sweetbitter,” Daniyar segued to Steven Soderbergh’s film The Laundromat. Joining a star-studded cast that includes Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas, he plays Sergei, a Russian playboy engaged in a money-laundering scheme without thought to its collateral damage.

Born in Dushanbe, Tajikistan (USSR), Daniyar grew up in Kaliningrad, Russia, on the Baltic Sea. His mom, being a music teacher, sent him to an arts school, where he got his first introduction to theater, music, and dance. He later moved to Moscow to study engineering and spent all of his free time performing in a local theater.

After getting his Bachelor of Science degree, he packed his bags and moved across the ocean to the United States with no English, no family, and only $500 to his name. After six years of fighting for his right to stay in the U.S., he was given asylum.

Since moving to Los Angeles, Daniyar has continued polishing his acting skills, studying with top acting coaches, as well as writing and directing several short films. He did this all while taking any jobs he could get — from a dishwasher to a model.

Leveraging his rugged good looks and multicultural charm, he has built his acting career with passion and persistence, landing him roles in “Scandal” and “Claws.” He has also appeared in numerous national and multinational commercials.

Sandra Bernhard (Maddie) Performer, actress, singer and author Sandra Bernhard is currently the host of the hugely popular “Sandyland,” her weekly radio show on SiriusXM’s Radio Andy Channel 102, now going into its fourth year, for which she won a Gracie Award.

A pioneer of the one-woman show, Bernhard brings a completely unique and raucous mix of cabaret, stand- up, rock-n-roll and social commentary to the stage. She is now performing her latest show, “Quick Sand,” which debuted at her annual holiday shows at Joe’s Pub in New York City and will tour throughout the country in 2019.

Highlighting a successful, decades-long television career, Bernhard has also joined the cast of the hit FX/Ryan Murphy show “Pose” as a series regular, following a memorable Season 1 guest appearance, reprising her role as brassy-but-caring Nurse Judy Katz, who works with HIV/AIDS patients. The 1980s- based drama is now shooting its second season in New York City. Bernhard also recently made a special guest appearance on Ryan Murphy’s “American Horror Story: Apocalypse” this past season. Extremely notable past live stage shows, which she has performed both on- and off-Broadway, include “Without You I’m Nothing,” “I’m Still Here...Damn It,” “Everything Bad & Beautiful” and “#blessed.” She continues to tour both nationally and internationally.

"What makes Bernhard's comedy so rare — whether she's philosophizing about Taylor Swift's squad or singing Dolly Parton's ‘Hard Candy Christmas’ as imagined by Caitlyn Jenner — is that within every keenly observed pop-culture rant, there's an element of piercing truth," Variety wrote. In a review of her career, The New Yorker noted that "Bernhard teaches the children — all those burgeoning spoken-word artists and monologists — how to perform observational comedy with style, and right on the political edge." And the Los Angeles Times praised another show, writing that Bernhard "has musicality to die for, a voice that swoops from the bluesy basement to a top-floor falsetto."

Bernhard’s film credits include The King of Comedy (for which she was awarded Best Supporting Actress by the National Society of Film Critics), Track 29, Hudson Hawk, Dinner Rush, and the live performance film Without You I’m Nothing. Past television credits include “2 Broke Girls,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “Broad City,” “Difficult People,” “You’re the Worst,” “The New Adventures of Old Christine,” “Will & Grace,” “The Sopranos,” “The Larry Sanders Show” and “Roseanne.” Music albums include “I'm Your Woman” (Polygram, 1986), “Excuses for Bad Behavior, Part 1” (Epic, 1994) and the world music album “Whatever It Takes” (Mi5, 2009). Bernhard has also performed with or opened for other artists, including The Pretenders, Cyndi Lauper and Scissor Sisters. In addition, she is the author of three books: Confessions of a Pretty Lady (Harper & Row, 1988), Love, Love and Love (William Morrow, 1993) and May I Kiss You on the Lips, Miss Sandra? (Rob Weisbach Books/William Morrow, 1998).