*In an industry preoccupied with “the next big thing,” some careers are built quietly, steadily, until one role finally brings the spotlight. Edwin Lee Gibson knows this well.
The Obie Award–winning stage actor has spent over four decades mastering his craft—yet many television viewers are only now meeting him as Ebraheim on FX’s hit series “The Bear.”
“Some people would consider the fact that they’re just seeing me that I am a late bloomer,” Gibson says. “Morgan Freeman didn’t get his… everyone knew about him in the theater, but people didn’t know about him on TV and screen until he was in his fifties.”
For Gibson, the idea of “arriving late” is irrelevant. He never chased an arrival point. “I didn’t look to anything except the work,” he says. “There’s no guarantee of anything… so define success for yourself.”
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That philosophy has guided a career that began in Houston, where he landed his first paid acting job at 16. Over the years, he’s performed in more than 100 theater productions across the U.S. and internationally.
“I’ve always been afraid that if I stay in one place, I might regress,” Gibson says. “As a theater actor, I’ve been nomadic a lot of my career. That’s the one real thing that I latched on to,” he adds—explaining how this sense of movement informed his portrayal of Ebraheim, a man who traveled far to build a new life.
When the audition for “The Bear” came across his desk, Gibson hesitated. “This character seems like it could be a trope. Of course, tropes only exist in as much as the actor allows it—and that’s not who I am.”
Unable to find a scene partner, he submitted a self-taped monologue audition. Show creator Christopher Storer recognized him immediately—remembering Gibson from a Chicago theater production—and offered him the role.
Though known for his measured screen presence, Gibson’s approach is rooted in his theatrical foundation. “The lens is actually asking you to be smaller. Theater is asking you to be bigger… but the through line is the truth,” he says. “I’m not trying to create a performance. I’m trying to tell the story.”
One of Gibson’s most defining personal truths is that he is still a stutterer — a trait he sees as a strength, not a limitation.
“I didn’t overcome anything. I think it’s actually my superpower,” Gibson explains. “I understand what speech patterns are and how everyone has a pattern of speech… it could be code switching, it could be time spent in different places.”
That heightened awareness shapes how he builds characters from the inside out.
What frustrates him most about Ebraheim? “How much he knows about himself and about his resolve that he doesn’t share… some people are more afraid of success than they are of failure.”
For actors who feel like their time hasn’t arrived—especially Black actors—Gibson’s message is clear.
“Validate yourself. Especially as a brown-skinned artist. Validate yourself and beware of those skin folk that ain’t kinfolk,” he warns. “If you’re waiting for someone to give you work, you’re going to be waiting a long time.”
That’s advice he lives by. Between seasons of “The Bear,” Gibson wrote and directed his own film, “A Pink and Red Dress Made of Satin Covered in Flowers, Mostly Roses,” which he recently finished editing. He also appears in season two of Amazon’s “Fallout.”
He’s not chasing what’s “big” or “popular.” As he puts it, “I’m passionate about characters and stories that have some weight to them… that allow me entry into their lives so I can tell their stories.”
In today’s culture, where late bloomers like Colman Domingo and Da’Vine Joy Randolph are redefining what it means to “make it,” Gibson’s trajectory reminds us that careers aren’t measured by speed—they’re measured by substance.
“Sh-t may not work out the way you think,” Gibson says, “but if you’re driving and reading the signs—especially as a brown-skinned artist—there’s a much larger world to work in than just here in the U.S.”
It’s a worldview shaped by decades of doing the work in rehearsal rooms, on small stages, and across cities far from home. And when the role that would finally introduce him to millions came along, Edwin Lee Gibson was more than ready. He’d been preparing for it all along.
From the column: Black in the Green Room
By Keith L. Underwood
Follow: @mrkeithlunderwood (IG), @blackinthegreenroom (IG), YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook
Keith L. Underwood is a writer, producer, director, and former celebrity publicist whose work explores the intersection of Black culture and entertainment. He is the creator and host of Black in the Green Room, a syndicated column and radio series spotlighting Black creatives in television, film, theater, and music. The column runs weekly in the Los Angeles Sentinel, and the companion radio show airs on KBLA Talk 1580. The series can be seen on YouTube (@blackinthegreen) and heard across most major podcast platforms. You can also follow Keith on Instagram (@mrkeithlunderwood), TikTok and Facebook (@keithlunderwood).
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