The Bear: Will Poulter Wants This EGOT Winner To Appear In Season 3 (& Now So Do We)

Season 2 of "The Bear" is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to guest stars. By now, the secret's out; everyone from Oscar winners Olivia Colman and Jamie Lee Curtis to "Community" favorite Gillian Jacobs to stand-up comedian John Mulaney was on hand to guest star in the sophomore season of the critically acclaimed restaurant drama. Will Poulter, fresh off his turn in "Guardians of the Galaxy 3" as Adam Warlock, was also there, playing Luca, a Copenhagen-based pastry chef who serves as a mentor to Chicago's own Marcus (Lionel Boyce).

Whether or not Poulter returns in future seasons of "The Bear" remains to be seen, but for his part, Poulter already has a great idea about who should show up next. In an interview with The Daily Beast about his Season 2 appearance, Poulter was asked about who he would want to see appear on "The Bear," and he had an immediate answer. "Viola Davis as a head chef of an unbelievable place would be really incredible," Poulter said. "If I could work for Viola Davis in a restaurant, that would be my dream."

This is a pretty great answer; as of February 2023, Viola Davis is officially the eighteenth person in entertainment history to win an EGOT, meaning she's won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony (all in competitive races). Sure, Davis is in demand... but "The Bear" got Colamn and Curtis on board. Could Davis be far behind?

Poulter's Luca was a welcome addition to the second season of "The Bear" — in fact, he helped provide the show with a few much-needed breaths of fresh air. After we're repeatedly told how cutthroat and cruel the restaurant industry can be to those just trying to learn, we meet the gentle and kind Luca, who nurtures Marcus' obvious talent instead of looking down on the less experienced chef. Poulter also opened up to The Daily Beast about trying to keep his cameo relatively under wraps... as well as his run-in with real-life celebrity chef Nancy Silverton, famous for her breadmaking and winner of a James Beard award for Outstanding Chef.

"It was nuts," Poulter recalled. "I remember being in the costume department, [seeing] this rail of clothing, and I was like, 'Oh my God, you know who this clothing reminds me of? This is like Nancy Silverton!'" Poulter says he was then met with silence. "And I was like, 'Wait, Nancy Silverton isn't in The Bear, is she?' And they were like, 'Well, no. But Olivia Colman is, and Nancy Silverton is a big inspiration.' Like, hold on! Olivia Colman is one of my favorite actors in the world. I have this joke with someone I work with—we're such fans of hers that we want her to run for prime minister. Acting's loss would be Britain's gain," the actor joked.

"To be one of those cameos is an honor," Poulter concluded. "It's been one of the most special experiences of my life. It was two days of shooting, but it was a lot of prep. Hereafter, it's changed me."

According to a piece in Vulture by Jen Chaney, Viola Davis may have some stiff competition if she wants to join "The Bear" in its upcoming third season — because the actors who joined its second season were clamoring to be a part of the show. Chaney spoke to casting directors Jennifer Rudnicke and Jeanie Bacharach, who both worked on the show, and both said they were overrun by requests to join "The Bear" for its second outing.

Poulter, according to Bacharach, was one of them. "He had reached out to Chris [Storer, the creator and showrunner] after season one to just say how much he loved the show," Bacharach said, also noting that Poulter said he'd basically play any role they had available. "So early on [in season two], those conversations about Will for the Luca role were happening."

Jamie Lee Curtis was fresh off her Oscar win when she agreed to appear as Berzatto matriarch Donna — and after Michelle Pfeiffer, the original choice, was unavailable due to a scheduling conflict, they approached her. "She was just a huge, huge fan," Bacharach told Chaney. "I think she said 'yes' before she even looked at the scripts, just based on the character description and getting to be part of the show." As for Olivia Colman, after a lot of discussion, it came out that she too was a fan of "The Bear," and it was arranged that she could guest star as celebrity Chef Terry.

"The Bear," including its many guest stars, is streaming on Hulu now.