"The Bear" actor and Boston native Ayo Edebiri paid a visit to her alma mater Boston Latin School on Thursday, where she spoke to students about her time there before she was honored by the mayor.

Joined by Mayor Michelle Wu, Edebiri called it "very, very surreal" to be back at her high school, telling the student body she envied them getting out of class for the assembly.

Sharing her experiences at Boston Latin

"I will say that the people who I consider my closest friends, I went to Latin with and are still in my life and I'm hopeful will be in my life forever," said Edebiri. "It's such a specific experience going to this school ... there's a rigor that I have, a level of care that I think that I have that would not be possible without having gone to this school. I think it really shapes you and molds you."

Edebiri also spoke about how the diverse student body at Boston Latin prepared her.

"There's so many people who were from completely different walks of life than where I was from," said Edebiri, who got cheers from the audience when she said she was from Dorchester. "Coming here to school, I was like, oh, I didn't have friends from any other neighborhoods in Boston and friends from different religious backgrounds and not many different ethnic backgrounds. By the time I was ready to go to college, I felt, like, ready to meet the world."

Edebiri: Improv "changed my life"

Edebiri said she started doing improv at Boston Latin when she was in eighth grade and said doing so changed her life.

"I was really shy, I was really not the most confident public speaker," said Edebiri, who remembered reciting a speech from "Julius Caesar." "I'm almost 30 and I still remember it. I remember that performance specifically. I was so nervous, I was shaking. I remember just looking into Ms. McDonald's eyes because if I don't, I might pass out. But then I did it, I made it to the end. And then she was like, 'That was really good!' And I was like, maybe something's here."

Edebiri also said Latin taught her to face challenges and always had teachers who were there to help her understand things, like math problems.

Advice for aspiring actors

After speaking with Wu, Edeberi took some questions from the students in the audience. When asked what her advice is for someone looking to get into the entertainment industry, the Edeberi shared something she heard from a teacher at NYU. "Being in the entertainment industry is a game of attrition. It's not a game of luck, or chance, or skill, even sometimes. It's really a matter of attrition and being able to stick it out because it can be a very unpredictable, volatile industry. And being able to be steadfast and be able to stick it out is, I think, one of the most valuable things you can do."

Ayo Edebiri Day in Boston

At the end of the event, Wu presented Edebiri with a proclamation naming April 10, 2025 as Ayo Edebiri Day. Wu said the honor was to recognize Edebiri for her accomplishments as a Boston native.

Who is Ayo Edebiri?

Ayo Edebiri is best known for her work on "The Bear," for which she won an Emmy, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award and Critics' Choice Award. Edebiri has also appeared on the TV show  "Abbott Elementary," co-starred in the movie "Bottoms" and voiced a character in the Disney Pixar movie "Inside Out 2." She graduated from Boston Latin in 2013 before going on to NYU.