‘You get paid more than me and I’m an actual baker’: Why did this Jellycat worker go viral—and why are people now obsessed with her?
They say if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. You might still get ridiculed online for it, though.
At least, that’s what happened to Miriam Marwood (@mimimarwood), a “fake chef by day” and “actor by night,” according to her TikTok bio.
Marwood went viral recently after a video of her was posted on TikTok, earning more than 3 million views in just one weekend. In the clip, which was originally uploaded by @amandalouiseb, Marwood is hard at work at the iconic Jellycat diner in New York. She stands behind the counter inside the FAO Schwarz location, pretending to cook up the plush toy her young customer eagerly waits for. Marwood and her co-worker act animatedly, screaming in excitement and pantomiming “cooking” the toys. Their actions are quite energetic, understandably so, as most of their customers are kids. Marwood dons an apron as she urges a child to slam the burger plush onto the “stove.”
The clip’s overlay text reads, “Imagine having a bad day and this is your job.” It’s no surprise that such a unique job caught on camera spurred thousands of comments on TikTok. One top comment with more than 540,000 likes reads, “They drive home in silence [for sure.]”
One user imagined the horror of anticipating a breakup text while having to act your heart out. “Imagine getting a ‘we need to talk’ text and you got 6 more hours to go,” they wrote.
Another added, “Imagine ur crush coming in on ur shift.”
What is the Jellycat Diner?
Jellycats are popular plush toys created by a British company called Jellycat. These toys are often modeled after animals, food items, or other characters. They went viral on TikTok over the past couple of years as Gen Z and Alpha scooped them up to add to their bags or toy collections.
A Jellycat Diner is an interactive experience where customers “order” their food-themed Jellycats and see workers “cook” them up in person. The Manhattan location, where Marwood works, offers more than just the experience of seeing a worker serve up burgers, hot dogs, and pancakes in plush form.
“Your to-go order is lovingly prepared by our diner team and is served in your very own personalized packaging,” the FAO Schwarz site reads. “Each experience includes a Jellycat Amuseables plush food item, an exclusive enamel pin, exclusive sticker sheet, gift packaging, personalized sticker, and a reusable tote bag.”
According to the site, the cost of the experience is $60. While the price may seem steep for some, it’s not surprising after learning how much the workers earn.
What’s it actually like working at Jellycat Diner? Is it that bad?
It doesn’t seem so. Marwood posted a response to the viral video on Tuesday, where she appears unfazed by the comments in the original clip. She shared her favorites in a 3-minute TikTok while also answering some questions about her job.
One viewer asked how one trains for this job. Marwood replied they “literally throw you in the diner on your first day and say, ‘be funny.”
“It’s terrifying,” she adds.
Another commenter tried to look at the bright side, writing, “At least if you crash out you can do it in a funny way?” Marwood admitted that a crashout occurred “every shift.”
However, one tiny detail in Marwood’s video sparked a heated discussion in her comments section.
How much does the diner pay?
When one commenter speculated that the actors are “roleplaying for minimum wage.” Marwood clarifies, “I would not do this for minimum wage.”
So, how much does she get paid?
“We get $21 an hour,” she says.
Several viewers were caught off guard at the revelation.
“TWENTY ONE AN HOUR?… i’d be doing backflips and [expletive],” one wrote.
“You get paid more than me And i’m an actual baker,” another commented.
One echoed, “You get 21 an hour while i get paid 19.50 an hour as a [certified nursing assistant.]”
How hard is it to get a job at Jellycat diner?
A job at Jellycat Diner can be highly competitive, with several interviews involved in the application process. However, Marwood may have hinted at what the process is actually like. In one comment, a viewer questioned her about it. One user joked, “They just leave someone with ADHD in a room with these toys and nothing else for an hour and see how funny they can be.”
Marwood says this is “not far from the truth.”
According to a job listing on ZipRecruiter, a Jellycat Diner Experience Associate must have “an engaging and theatrical personality that can captivate an audience in all environments.”
@mimimarwood lol love u guys #jellycatdiner #jellycats #nyc #nyctravel #viral #viralvideo #greenscreen ♬ L.Boccherini, Minuet from String Quartet No.5 in F major – AllMusicGallery
They should also have the “ability to remain positive and in character for extended periods of time without losing any of your magic.”
The full list of qualifications required can be found here. The Mary Sue has reached out to Marwood for more information on her job via Instagram direct message. Until then, you can watch Marwood share her day-to-day experiences working at the New York location on her TikTok account. We also reached out to FAO Schwarz via contact form.
Update May 15, 9:04am CT: In an Instagram direct message to the Mary Sue, Miriam said this wasn’t the first time she had gone viral from her job.
When she first started at the diner, she says someone posted a clip of her first day at work. Miriam says she was so “unfunny” that it still haunts her “to this day.” Since then, Miriam has gained her confidence.
In regard to TikTokers feeling sympathetic to workers who have a rough day, Miriam says her co-workers make all the difference.
“Luckily, I have my co-workers supporting me,” she says. “I think there is a shared understanding in the diner among co-workers that sometimes we will need to carry each other on a day that one of us is feeling under the weather, emotionally or physically.”
Apart from having support from her co-workers turned friends, Miriam says, “It’s also such a funny job that it’s hard to be sad flipping pancakes.”
Miriam notes that the hardest part of the job is being filmed all day.
“Some days you aren’t feeling funny or you’re feeling insecure about how you look, and then you go to work and people are filming you for your entire 7-hour shift,” she says. “The filming has become such a part of the experience, to the point that less people interact with you because they just want a video to post. The most fun interactions are where the guests aren’t filming, but rather they are just being in the moment with you and playing along.”
As an actor, Miriam says the Jellycat Diner is the perfect job when she’s not performing.
“While it can prove harder than it sounds some days, I feel infinitely grateful to have such an incredible and unserious day job,” she concludes. “Also, the opportunity to make people smile, and to positively impact their day, even if for a couple minutes is really special to me.”
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