One of the many beloved cameos in The Bear Season 2 is Will Poulter as the tatted pastry chef. Poulter, who is a huge fan of the show, told Variety about the meaning behind Chef Luca’s tattoos. The actor worked with tattoo designer Benny Shields and The Bear’s makeup department head Ignacia Soto-Aguilar to give a deeper meaning to his character’s ink.
“I did these crude rudimentary drawings, and I wrote descriptions of what they signify to the character and to me and why I wanted them. Then Benny turned out incredible versions of the drawings, and pitched me some better ones,” the Guardians Of The Galaxy actor explained to the outlet. He added that he had everything tattoo-related planned out well before his cameo in Episode 4, “Honeydew,” was official.
“Funnily enough, I had my tattoos done about two weeks after I said that I was going to do the project. I had them all done before I signed a contract. This team took care of me and made me feel like one of their own before the T’s were crossed, and the I’s were dotted on the business side of things.” Among Luca’s ink seen in The Bear includes a letter “A” for Arsenal F.C., a nurse as a tribute to family members who work in the field, a Tabasco bottle for his brother’s sauce of choice, and fish and chips for his father.
After being covered in fake ink, Poulter is considering getting some of his own. According to Variety, one idea is a rowboat with a spatula — which Luca dons in The Bear.
Lionel Boyce and Will Poulter in The Bear.Chuck Hodes/FX
Poulter is a huge fan of the cooking dramedy and admitted that he “literally begged” creator Christopher Storer to be on The Bear. “I asked if I could meet with Chris Storer and basically communicated that I was such a fan of so much of his work, but especially The Bear,” Poulter said, adding that it was a dream role to play a chef, which he previously referred to as “rock stars” when speaking with The Cut.
“I have such an immense amount of respect for chefs and the women and men of that industry. I feel like the whole society stands on the shoulders of people in the food and beverage industry, and we don’t even necessarily really know it or think about it,” he told Variety. “They sustain us and maintain us daily and they don’t get enough thanks for what they do.”
Thank you, Chef!
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