Luca

**Luca** is a guest character in the second season of the comedy drama series ***The Bear***. He is a Copenhagen based chef. He is portrayed by Will Poulter.

## Background

Originally from London, Luca grew up a troublemaker. At some point, after eating at a restaurant, Luca tried to 'ditch the check' but was caught and forced to wash dishes for them. He ended up loving it. He grew to become a great chef due to, by his own admission, making a lot of mistakes. He grew his skillset early on and became convinced that he was 'the best'. He eventually began working as a *chef de commis* in a really good restaurant at the same time as another chef (implied to have been Carmy). Despite initially believing that the two were competition, Luca soon realized that the chef was 'much, much better' than him. As a result, Luca took this realization as an opportunity to take the pressure off of himself and learn from his rival, which resulted in him getting better than he thought he ever could be.

## Personality

Luca is a quiet and dedicated chef.

As a mentor, Luca is direct but patient, providing clear and concise feedback to Marcus. He believes that it's important to be open to new ideas in order to be a great chef.

## Physical Description

Luca has wavy blonde hair and several tattoos on both arms.

## Relationships

### Marcus

Luca and Marcus were briefly co-workers and are friends. They first met when, in preparation for the opening of their new restaurant, Carmy sent Marcus to Copenhagen to improve and learn new skills as a pastry chef. Upon first meeting, Luca acted as a somewhat stern, distant mentor to Marcus, and kept things purely professional. This was due to his dedication to his craft, however, and not based on any negative opinion of Marcus personally. Despite this, the two of them gradually bond over their shared love of baking, as well as sharing their past experiences, and by the time Marcus leaves, the two of them are friends.

Later, on the opening night of the Bear, Marcus receives a package in the mail from Luca, with a message that reads: "Make it worth it! Good luck.", along with a metal plaque that reads "Every Second Counts", which Marcus places on the wall of the kitchen.

## Trivia

* Will Poulter, who plays Luca, is a self-proclaimed 'fanboy' of the Bear and 'begged' to be on it. On Variety, he said “No one has got more fanboy energy for the show than I do … I can guarantee you that … it was one of the best experiences of my life.”
* Poulter does not have tattoos in real life and collaborated with tattoo artist Benny Shields in crafting tattoo designs for the character. As such, over twenty tattoos had to be placed on his arms during makeup before shooting. The tattoos were designed to contain many details about Luca's upbringing and personality. These include
	+ 'C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁', the formula for sugar, on his left wrist, which Luca makes use of as a pastry chef.
	+ 'A' which stands for the Arsenal Football Club, which Poulter is a fan of.
	+ The Arsenal F.C. Logo, located on the side of his left forearm.
	+ A sunflower on his right shoulder.
	+ The Roman numeral 'IV', which stands for '4', located on his inner forearm
	+ A drawing of a Tabasco bottle located on his right inner forearm.
	+ 'HiiPoWeR', located above his left elbow, which likely refers to the song by Kendrick Lamar, whom Luca may be a fan of.
* Luca has a younger sister.