Ayo Edebiri and Jamie Lee Curtis knew a secret when they met on the red carpet: Curtis was going to guest star on 'The Bear'

• Jamie Lee Curtis and Ayo Edebiri knew a secret when they met on a red carpet in March.
• While the meeting was truly their first, they both knew they were set to costar in an episode of "The Bear."

Ayo Edebiri and Jamie Lee Curtis knew a secret when they met for the first time on a red carpet in March.

The two met at the Film Independent Spirit Awards — but we now know Curtis had a surprise guest starring role on Edebiri's hit show "The Bear."

It turns out that they both knew this, too, but wanted to keep that secret from the rest of us when they initially met.

A representative for Curtis told Insider that she and Edebiri "had not met previously but had the secret knowledge that Jamie was going to work on the show."

By the time the two crossed paths, filming for season two of "The Bear" was already underway, according to Collider.

Edebiri — who is listed as a co-executive producer for episode six of the season, which features a prominent cameo from Curtis — was clearly already aware that Curtis was tapped to fill the role of Carmy Berzatto's mom in the flashback Christmas episode.

But Edebiri and the remaining cast and crew of "The Bear" would have wanted to keep Curtis' surprise appearance under wraps.

A video posted to Twitter from the red carpet shows Edebiri and Curtis meeting for the first time.

The 45-second clip shows Curtis mid-interview with Extra while talking to an off-screen Edebiri. The camera then zooms out to show Curtis offering Edebiri a mint.

After thank yous, Curtis reaches out her hand.

"I'm Jamie," she says, smiling.

"I'm Ayo," Edebiri replies, shaking hands with Curtis. "Big fan."

"Me, too," Curtis replies before turning back to her interview.

The Extra reporter then comments on how "starstruck" Edebiri was during that meeting. Curtis replies that she's equally "starstruck."

The video then cuts to a new clip in which Curtis pulls a bashful Edebiri back into the frame.

"Come on, be on TV," Curtis says to Edebiri. After a quick interaction, Curtis says goodbye and tells Edebiri to "have fun," before walking away.