Bustle Exclusive
Lionel Boyce Reacts To Fans Shipping Marcus & Luca On The Bear
The pastry pals go through it in the show’s final season.
Sure, The Bear does a beautiful job of showing what meaningful platonic relationships can look like — an idea its stars have long championed. But there are lots of feelings flying around that little kitchen. Are they all of the professional bestie variety?
In addition to the buzzy, years-long phenomenon that is #sydcarmy (rewatch them under the table in Season 2 and really be honest with yourself!), some fans have speculated about a love triangle between Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), Marcus (Lionel Boyce), and Luca (Will Poulter). To recap: Marcus asked Sydney out in Season 2, which she gently skirted past, and in Season 3, conversation flowed for Sydney and Luca at Ever’s farewell dinner. But could the love triangle’s resolution actually lie in Luca and Marcus?
In Season 5, the pastry pals, who first met as mentor and mentee in Copenhagen, begin the day bonding over McGriddles, but things get awkward when Marcus learns Luca is moving back to Denmark. After rising tension throughout the season (one shift, à la The Pitt), the typically mild-mannered pair get into a loud argument during dinner service.
During a recent chat with Boyce, I pointed out that this tension — seemingly born from Luca’s looming exit — might delight shippers. But as the Emmy-nominated actor tells Bustle, he has a more familial interpretation of their dynamic.
“It’s brothers,” he says. “You fight with family. You fight with your brother.”
Boyce adds that as the characters deal with the kitchen’s chaos, Marcus is also projecting onto Luca, and in turn, his fellow pastry chef is calling him out on it. “That’s what happened between us: Marcus is putting all these things out there, he’s feeling a way, it’s affecting the work, and Luca’s like, ‘I see what’s going on. I’ve been in those shoes,’” he says.
Indeed, in Episode 5, Luca tells Marcus that his former trainee is putting a lot of pressure on himself. But Marcus isn’t exactly in a receptive mood. “When he calls it to the light, it just explodes,” Boyce says. “So I don’t know. To me, it’s always been like brothers fight brothers.”
Of course, whether you see Luca and Marcus as family or something else, their dynamic is one of the standout pairings on The Bear — and they end the show on wonderful terms, hugging and exchanging a friendly “love you” before Luca sets off for his flight home. Danish pastry spinoff when?!
