Luke Danes is one of the integral characters in the American comedy-drama TV series, Gilmore Girls.
The actor has been described as so many things including a cold-hearted man who didn’t live up to his late father’s gleeful reputation. In fact, he was the complete opposite of his father who ran a hardware store which Luke turned into a local diner in the small town of Stars Hollow.
When Luke Danes took over the store after the passing of his father, he struggled to understand some of the town's traditions because most didn’t make sense and he wouldn’t budge to accommodate those traditions.
However, he found himself in a romantic web that was a rollercoaster throughout the 7 seasons of the series.
There is one interesting thing you should know about Luke Danes's character, but I will give you at least 9 other mind-blowing facts.
Here’s Everything You Should Know About Luke Danes
1. Behind the ‘Tough Guy’ Persona, is a Nice, Sweet Guy
If you have seen Gilmore Girls then you will know that Luke Danes tried so hard to be that tough guy who couldn’t be easily swayed or bought over. He even ran his diner with an iron fist and wouldn’t let any extra-curricular activity be held there.
However, we also did see that it was mostly a facade, right? Beneath the ‘Don’t mess with me’ persona is actually a sweet and caring man who lived in a small apartment above his dad’s former local hardware store and ran the place as if his life depended on it.
His sweetness also trickles into his relationship with the girls he trains in soccer for the Stars Hollow Softball league, and most especially his love interest, Lorelai Gilmore, the town’s talkative.
We saw how Luke could and would stop the world whenever Lorelai was in a fix and needed aid. Other citizens of the town didn’t get more than a respectful nod or even smile, most times.
2. He was Athletic
Luke Danes was very athletic from when he was a high-school student at Stars Hollow High School. He was a great track and field athlete who participated in the hurdles races so much so that he qualified for the state finals a few times.
Backtracking a bit, as a child, Danes was also a fan of Ice Hockey. He takes us and Lorelai on a journey to when his father built him a rink as a child, sometime in Season 5 when he tries to make up for Lorelai’s bad day by building her an Ice Hockey rink.
3. His Date of Birth Isn’t Known But Rumor Has It To Be Between October/November
There was a scene that tried to throw light on Luke’s birthday but the exact date remained unknown.
The scene of his first official date with Lorelai tells us what we need to know about his birth period. Danes recalled, during the date, that the first time he and Lorelai met, she pestered about his birthday. She also tore out the Scorpio section of the newspaper horoscope and wrote a note on it for Luke.
That scene made us believe he is a ‘Scorpio king’ and his birthday is between October 24th and November 21st.
4. You Already Know He Loves Solitude
Luke Danes doesn’t like to be disturbed and that is general knowledge. You can’t even as much as take a phone call in his diner without getting a stink-eye from him or getting thrown out. Only one person was able to break through this part of him, though.
His love for solitude, his own time of quietness, and peace are evident in the little and big things he does. Not accepting to have his diner decorated for every little holiday or activity there is in the town of Stars Hollow is one. Refusing Richard Gilmore’s offer to expand his diner into a chain of restaurants could be seen as another.
His general approach to people and involvement in the town’s activities and gossip is surely a huge indicator.
Also, nothing screams ‘Leave me alone’ more than living in the small apartment above the diner. Even with all these, he still loved the town and the people so much, he never contemplated leaving.
5. To Achieve the Perfect Character, Scott Patterson Had to Stop Smoking
Luke Danes and his love interest in Gilmore Girls, Lorelai Gilmore, both had to quit smoking in real life because of this series. The dialogue in the series was fast-paced and to keep up with it, they both needed their winds.
6. He Speaks Spanish Fluently
In the 5th season of this series, Luke Danes had to take over the chef responsibility at Dragonfly Inn when Sookie who ran kitchen duties, was put on bed rest. It was in this new position that Luke showed his prowess in the Spanish language.
If you can recall, he had to repeat things in Spanish when he dished out instructions to the kitchen staff. What’s most interesting is how fluent his Spanish is.
7. Luke Has 2 Other Names that Only Three Other People Call Him
The first name is ‘Butch’ which he got back in high school and he hated so much. Unfortunately, when Carrie, Luke’s elder sister Liz’s friend came back into town and visited, she called him by the name as they all attended high school together.
The other name is 'Lucas' and only his mother’s high school friend, Maisy, and the owner of ‘The Ins & Outs Inns’, Mia, calls him that. For this name, Luke only permits Mia to call him that but Maisy at some point also does.
8. He is a Star Trek Fan
This may have flown past heads but do you remember when Mia told Lorelai and Rory (Lorelai's daughter) that Luke was a huge fan of Star Trek? She mentioned that when he was still a young boy, Luke Danes wore a Star Trek shirt every day.
9. Was Luke Danes Gamophobic?
He fell in love. Of course, Luke did fall in love and he fell hard. He was in love with Lorelai Gilmore for the entire 7 seasons of this series although their love and romance took us on whirlwind rollercoaster rides.
Luke Danes dated and married other people while being in love with Ms. Gilmore and she reciprocated by marrying and dating other people while in love with the diner’s chef, waiter, coffee maker, and manager, Luke.
However, Luke was unable to fully commit to anything more intense than dating. When Lorelai found out about his daughter and felt left out of his life because his attention shifted, she gave him an ultimatum to get married to her, or their relationship suffered.
The chef, unable to bring himself to commit, allowed the relationship he cherished so much to go down the drain.
So, what do you think? Was he gamophobic – afraid of commitments or it was something else?
10. Luke Danes’ Character Was Initially Not What It Turned Out To Be
The big reveal!!!! The character ‘Luke Danes’ wasn’t supposed to be for a man. In a chat with Entertainment Weekly in 2016, Amy Sherman-Palladino who co-created the series revealed that Luke’s character was made up as a spur-of-the-moment decision.
The character was originally a female but the network told her that the show needed another man so she just switched Luke’s character from female to male. The dialogue wasn’t even changed.
Luke’s name was originally Daisy but when the name changed, the storyline was bound to change plus the chemistry between Luke and Lorelai was undeniable so in the end, we had a beautiful show.
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