Will Poulter Has A Surprise Cameo In The Bear, And Lionel Boyce Recalls Riffing About Michael Jordan In Improv Scene

Riley Utley
·4 min read
Will Poulter as Chef Luca in The Bear.
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Spoilers for Episode 4 of The Bear’s second season are ahead. If you aren’t caught up, you can stream every episode right now with a Hulu subscription. 

While The Bear’s cast is already incredible, they took their ensemble to a whole new level with the guest stars they brought in for Season 2. One of the most surprising cameos to me was Will Poulter – you know, Adam Warlock from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (among other things). He played Chef Luca, a baker who Marcus is sent to work with so the longtime Beef employee can truly find his voice within his profession. The episode is a wonderful stand-alone piece focused solely on Lionel Boyce’s character, and while chatting with CinemaBlend he opened up about working with Poulter, how filming with him just felt like “hanging out,” and how he loved riffing with the actor about Michael Jordan.

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Ebon Moss-Bachrach looking at the ceiling while holding a broom and Jeremy Allen White standing with his hands on his hips. The Beef is torn a part behind them.
Ebon Moss-Bachrach looking at the ceiling while holding a broom and Jeremy Allen White standing with his hands on his hips. The Beef is torn a part behind them.

The Beef Turns Into The Bear In Season 2, And The Cast Explains What It Was Like ‘Literally Ripping’ Everything Apart On Set

When Marcus meets Chef Luca he’s kind of intimidating at first, but as the episode goes on their walls come down. Then, at the end, the two characters share a heartfelt moment about how they got into cooking, and what it’s like working to become the best. It’s alluded that Poulter’s character has a history with Carmy, Marcus’ boss, and was constantly working to be better than The Bear’s owner. However, he couldn’t, so he decided to stay open and try to keep up with and learn from the best rather than get bogged down. This led to Boyce’s character comparing Luca to NBA legend Scottie Pippen, and then Poulter’s chef joking that he didn’t know who Michael Jordan was.

It’s a simple scene of two guys rolling dough, but it turned out it was one of Lionel Boyce’s favorites as he told CinemaBlend that he loved riffing about the basketball icons with Will Poulter:

I think definitely that rolling dough scene. Just because of how natural it felt and there were takes that weren't used where it was like we started to riff a little bit. And we were like, I think it was one joke I made to surprise him with like a riff of a joke on I think what we're talking about the basketball stuff like this to joke about Michael Jordan thing or whatever and he threw something back that I wasn't expecting. I can't remember now but it made me crack up so hard. And I love that because it was just a groove of just riffing in the right way. But it felt like two friends hanging out.

You can feel the chemistry between the two in that sequence, and it feels like such a sincere way to wrap up Marcus' transformative trip to Copenhagen to learn from Chef Luca. Being able to see them casually roll dough and bond over their shared love of baking was heartwarming, and seeing them riff about Micheal Jordan was not only funny, but an effective comparison to show the audience Luca’s history with Carmy.

From left to right: Lionel Boyce as Marcus and Will Poulter as Luca both rolling dough in The Bear.
From left to right: Lionel Boyce as Marcus and Will Poulter as Luca both rolling dough in The Bear.

While Lionel Boyce was a bit nervous at first to work with Will Poulter, and he wanted to make sure he wasn’t “sinking the ship” in the presence of the Dopesick star, ultimately he was “excited” to learn from him.

After calling Poulter the “perfect person to play” Luca on The Bear, Boyce explained what he learned from the actor, complimenting his attention to detail, and saying:

I love when people simplify things. Because so many times people are talking from a place where they feel the need to mystify and build it up, where he's just speaking in layman's terms where he completely understands he was like, digging, looking for something specific. And I think he got there and I understood and I believe it helped bring that whole scene to a different place.

Boyce was speaking about the rolling dough scene specifically, and it sincerely was such a special moment in the show. Not only did it show Marcus’ growth professionally, but it also gave us a raw look into the life of a chef and the power of staying open to new opportunities.

To see how Marcus was impacted by Chef Luca, and to see Lionel Boyce and Will Poulters’ fantastic performances, you can stream Season 2 of The Bear right now. And when you finish watching the hit FX/Hulu show, make sure to check out the 2023 TV schedule to find your next favorite series.