Luca: Gino D’Acampo explains why he initially turned down a voice role in Disney Pixar film

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Eric Garcia

Washington Bureau Chief

Gino D'Acampo has revealed that he initially said no to a cameo voice role in Luca, the latest animated film from Disney Pixar.

The TV chef voices a priest called Eugenio in the movie, which has received positive reviews from critics following its release last week.

Luca is set in a seaside town on the Italian Riviera and follows a young sea monster (voiced by Jacob Tremblay) who disguises himself as a human boy while on dry land.

“It was very bizarre,” D’Acampo told the PA news agency. “They talked to me about seven, eight months ago to do this cameo role in this animation movie called Luca that Pixar and Disney did.

“At the beginning, I said no, I didn't want to do it because, you know what? It's not the kind of thing that I do. So I thought no, no, no, no, it really is not for me, blah.

“I didn't know nothing about the movie – that's the problem,” he continued. “So then Disney and Pixar, they sent me the video of the movie and they said 'Look Gino, have a look at it and then please, see what you think again'.”

D’Acampo said he watched the film and then “completely fell in love with” the title character, along with the location, which is where he filmed an episode of his cooking series, Gino’s Italian Escape.

“So then I thought, 'Wait a second, I'm changing my mind. This is filmed in somewhere where I've been, I know very well, this little boy is just incredible, the story is all about friendship and it's all about Italian food and how Italian people kind of live their life',” he said.

“And so I said, 'That's it, I'm done, I don't care, I want to do it'.”

He said he found it “great fun” to voice the role but also felt it was “bizarre” to see another character take on his voice.

“It was not the easiest thing in the world, I have to say, but we did it and everybody's happy and what a great experience. I'll definitely do it again,” he said.

Luca includes a number of Easter eggs, as is traditional for Pixar films.

In an interview with Variety, production designer Daniela Strijleva said viewers should look for teasers of “Turning Red”, Pixar’s next feature, and observe that many of the street names pay homage to famous Italian filmmakers and authors.

“We had lots of fun in the graphic design,” she said.

Read The Independent’s review here.

Additional reporting by Press Association