Love is scary. It’s scary to give it, scary to receive it, and above all, scary not to receive it – scary to discover that inside us there is far more chaos than we’d like to admit. That’s what “Love Me, Love Me”, available on Prime Video, is about, and perhaps that’s exactly why the novel it’s based on won over millions of readers on Wattpad before it ever became a film.

Luca Melucci, our May Cover Story, plays Will: the guy who seems to have everything under control, who always knows what to say and how to act, but who beneath the surface hides insecurities, fragility, and a deep need to feel alive. A character who is anything but simple, and anything but perfect.

We sat down with Luca to find out what it was like to give him a voice, how much of himself he sees in that character, and why he believes it’s worth loving even when that love isn’t returned.

What is your first cinema memory?

My first memory of cinema is my mother going to get the children’s booster seats – those cushion-like supports that little kids needed to see the screen better. She always used to say, “Let’s get two, otherwise you won’t be able to see.” It’s such a tender memory.

So, they took you to the cinema from a very young age.

Yes, absolutely. I watched practically every Disney animated film at the cinema. It was a tradition: every Tuesday, my mother, her partner, and I would go to the cinema. It was wonderful.

Do you remember the first film you saw?

I remember “Spirited Away”, although at a certain point I walked out of the theatre because some scenes scared me. But I also clearly remember seeing every Harry Potter film at the cinema.

Your career, though, began in fashion. You walked for Armani and worked on international campaigns. How did you make the transition to acting? When did you realise it could be your path?

Yes, I started in fashion. I had moved to Milan and was working as a model. I was very drawn to that world, because it was still a form of art, a way of expressing yourself. Being in front of a camera was something I found very interesting. At a certain point my agent said, “I think you should try cinema too.” Honestly, I had never thought about it – even though cinema had always been a part of my life. In the end I said, “Why not, let’s try.” I did an audition without ever having studied acting, and shortly afterwards I found myself on the set of Skam Italia. Only a month had passed since I’d joined the agency! That experience made me understand there was something beyond the image. On set you take part in something bigger – something collective, but also deeply personal. I fell completely in love with it.

“On set, you take part in something bigger – something collective, but also deeply personal.”

You started with an enormous project. “Skam” was a real baptism of fire.

Yes, and I was very lucky, in human terms too. The other kids on set were all very open and welcoming. I had very little experience, but they made me feel at home right away. It’s something I still carry with me on “Love Me, Love Me”: the human atmosphere on set really makes all the difference. I think they inspired me a great deal. If it had been a negative experience, I might not have carried on.

How did you first come across “Love Me, Love Me”? And what was your reaction when you got the role?

The incredible thing is that at first the project had a different title, so I didn’t know it was “Love Me, Love Me”. But my agent had told me straight away: “This is a very important international project.” We prepared the self-tape, and at a certain point they revealed the real title. That’s how I discovered the world of Wattpad, which, honestly, I knew nothing about. I was struck by how widely these books are read and loved. It’s fascinating, but also daunting, because when you make a film adaptation you know the expectations will always be enormous. But among all the characters, Will was the one who had struck me the most. He’s the most complex – the one with the most emotional depth.

When I found out I had got the role, I cried with joy. Being part of an international project is something that changes you completely.

Will is described almost as the perfect guy. How did you avoid making him a stereotype?

The interesting thing is that Will only seems perfect on the surface. He’s polite, well-mannered, especially in contrast to James, who is the bad boy. But when you read the book, you realise something is off with him. He has a lot of insecurities, a possessive streak, very deep fragilities. And that’s precisely what makes him human. Appearances can be deceiving. The character who seems perfect is perhaps the most fragile one of all.

“The character who seems perfect is perhaps the most fragile one of all.”

What was it like building chemistry with Pepe Barroso Silva, given that your characters are both friends and rivals?

With Pepe it was all very natural. We were incredibly lucky: on set a wonderful atmosphere developed among everyone – cast, director, production. With Pepe specifically, we have a lot of things in common. We got to know each other during training sessions with the stunt team while preparing for the final fight. We both come from sport, we both played football, so we already had that team spirit. He’s a wonderful person – genuinely impossible not to get along with. Today we’re great friends: we often play padel, we train together, we constantly push each other.

Do you think there’s something of yourself in Will?

Yes, I think so. Actually, I think Will is the character it’s easiest to recognise yourself in. He’s insecure, very caring, he feels everything to the nth degree. When I prepare a character, I always look for the points I have in common with myself. Once I find them, I try to understand how to amplify them. What fascinates me most about Will is his need to feel alive. Even in the worst moments – even in dangerous situations – he feels alive. That really resonated with me. Sometimes, even in difficult moments, I stop and think: “Okay, I’m hurting, but I’m alive.” And I think it’s important to remember that.

What was it like filming an international production in English? Did it change you as an actor?

Yes, enormously. It was the first time I had really acted in English, and I had a language coach who helped me a great deal. I’m drawn to English because it’s a much more onomatopoeic language. In Italian, the voice often follows the expression; in English it almost seems the other way around: just slightly changing the sound of a word can completely alter its emotional meaning. With Italian I feel completely free, whereas in English, on the first film, I still felt I had limitations. That’s why I keep studying – my goal is to feel just as free in English, especially when working with a director like Roger Kumble, who gives you an enormous amount of creative space.

Was there an improvised scene you’re particularly proud of?

Yes. One day Roger called me on my day off and said: “I’ve had an idea – can you come to set?” It was the dream sequence with June and James. At a certain point Roger suggested having me appear suddenly in the middle of them while they’re kissing and say: “June, what are you doing?” That scene wasn’t planned until the very last second – it came about entirely in the moment. At the premiere the audience reacted in the most amusing way: the moment I appeared between them, the whole theatre erupted.

How important is it for you to have a life outside the set?

It’s essential. I believe that to do this job, you have to truly live. Everything you encounter outside the set can become inspiration. I do a lot of sport, I play music, I’m always trying to observe people. Sometimes just watching someone on the street is enough to immediately imagine a character. It even happens that I listen to the way someone pauses mid-sentence and think: “That could be interesting to use in a scene.” In the end, that’s exactly what our job is: transforming real life into something worth telling.

“In the end, that’s exactly what our job is: transforming real life into something worth telling.”

Do you have a specific method for preparing characters?

It depends. If the character already exists in a book – like Will – I start from total knowledge: I want to know everything about him, including how he’s perceived by readers. I try to understand what emotions he feels and in which moments of my own life I’ve experienced something similar. If, on the other hand, the character is original and not based on a book, then I give myself more freedom and try to build him almost from scratch.

Can you give us any hints about “Love Me, Love Me 2”?

I can say there will be a trip and that the characters will leave Milan. It won’t be Mexico as in the book, but there will be a new setting. For Will it will be an emotionally very complicated journey. He’ll have to learn to live with certain emotions without letting them overwhelm him. And then new characters will arrive. The fans are already trying to figure out who will play whom — you only have to post a video and the theories start flying.

Is there a genre you’d like to explore in the future?

Definitely thriller and psychological horror. I’d also love to play a villain, because antagonists often have incredible depth. But I’d like to try a bit of everything. I want to experiment.

In a post you wrote: “I hope everyone can love even when that love isn’t returned.” Do you think that’s the main message of Love Me, Love Me?

Yes. I think it’s beautiful to love even when it isn’t reciprocated, because it means you’re living something real. Sometimes you have to learn to love even the version of yourself that feels that love. To stop and say: “Okay, I’m hurting, but look how alive I am right now.” In the end, love is also this: personal growth. It’s learning to know yourself through what you feel for someone else.

“In the end, love is also this: personal growth. It’s learning to know yourself through what you feel for someone else.”

What was your greatest act of rebellion?

Probably leaving university. I had studied engineering and had even completed my undergraduate degree. I was supposed to go on to my master’s – it was the “right” path, the one everyone expected of me. But at a certain point I realised I didn’t want to spend my life doing something just because it seemed like the safer choice. I thought: “I can’t waste time doing something that doesn’t truly feel like mine.” Today I feel fortunate because I wake up in the morning happy about what I do. And I believe that having the ability to choose what to do is the most important thing – it’s priceless.

I was sitting my Business Economics exam when this guy came up to me, handed me a card, and introduced me to the woman who would become my first modelling agent, the person who led me to discover this world, which in the end is the world where I want to stay for as long as possible. So I left everything behind. My parents have always supported me enormously in everything, so I love them for that. I gave Milan a shot and it went well: I moved there for two years, things went the way they went, and then I came back here, home.

In Rome, right?

Yes, exactly. And the fact that the film was shot in Milan had its own effect on me too. Milan is part of my life.

What is your greatest fear?

My greatest fear is reaching a point where I say: “Okay, that’s it, I’ve done everything I wanted to do.” I hope I never get there, and I know I won’t, but the idea of having no goal, no dream, that’s what frightens me most. When I talk to young people and hear them say “I am who I am, I do this, I do that” with no aspirations, not chasing anything bigger, content with what’s in front of them… that truly scares me.

“the idea of having no goal, no dream, that’s what frightens me most”

An epic fail on set? Any funny stories?

A very fresh one comes to mind – among the most incredible. It’s from “Love Me, Love Me”, and unfortunately the scene didn’t make it into the final cut. During the accident sequence, when the characters find themselves in the car, I arrive on a motorbike, take off my helmet, come down the hill, and save James.

The problem was, I didn’t have a motorbike licence. Thankfully the crew were brilliant — even during practice with the bike they stayed right by my side, running alongside me for fear I wouldn’t manage or that I’d fall. When we come to film, we arrive on location and I was expecting a simple scene… but the bike is nowhere where I expected it, and the crew are pointing uphill: “Luca, can you see it up there? There’s this very long slope. You start from up there, you need to hit at least 70 km/h all the way down the bend, then you pass between the manhole and the pole, and stop about a metre from the kerb.”

That’s an obstacle course, not a scene!

Exactly! And they go: “Yes, we need it for the shot – make sure it’s not a metre before and not a metre after.” So, I get on the bike, I set off, I ride down – in my head I was Valentino Rossi, going at an inhuman speed. I stop, I get off the bike, I throw the helmet on the ground, I start walking down the hill – which was also a bit wet from the rain – and I fall. I get up, I reach the car. Cut. I go to the director and say: “So, how did the motorbike ride down look?” And he goes: “Well, Luca, honestly, you went a little slow… But the walk down the hill – fantastic! That fall – how did you do it? Can you do it again?”

He thought it was intentional!

Exactly. I was speechless! [laughs]

Changing subject: what view would you want outside your window, forever?

This view changes for me often. Right now. I’m not entirely sure why, perhaps because it represents where I’d like to arrive, metaphorically. I’d like to be in a very tall skyscraper in New York, looking out over Central Park. Seeing from above all that chaotic life flowing down below, while inside my home, from my window, there’s calm. And thinking: “When do I go down? When do I throw myself in?” With snow falling over Central Park…

Like a Woody Allen film.

Exactly. Beautiful.

So, you’d like to live in New York?

I’d like to, yes. It’s something my mother passed on to me – she is absolutely in love with New York. Even though we only went there together once, I’ve since returned to America on my own, always carrying her eyes with me, that love for this extraordinary city.

What makes you feel safe, and what makes you feel confident in yourself?

What makes me feel safe? The people I’ve chosen to have around me. Starting with my mother, my agent, with whom I have an extraordinary relationship, and my closest friends, who are truly very few. They are my safe place. We are made to be in relation with others: without that, life would be very grey and lonely. There is always a need to share something with someone, and the safest place is the one where you feel free to do so.

And what makes me feel confident in myself? Having done my homework. When I was at school, I was calm because I had always done my homework. And the same is true on set: I remember the first day on “Love Me, Love Me” we were in Milan, international set, multiple cameras, enormous lights everywhere. The version of me from a few years earlier, the one who used to be overcome with anxiety before football matches, would have completely shut down. Instead, I was calm, because I had studied, I had repeated that line two hundred and fifty thousand times. I had done my homework – and so I was at peace.

What does it mean to you to feel comfortable in your own skin?

For me it means having nothing to hide. Being with anyone, being myself with everyone I interact with. I feel good in my own skin when I manage to be authentic in every context. When I’m doing something that feels wrong to me, wrong above all according to my own values, then I’m not in harmony with myself, and I can’t be completely myself with others. Something doesn’t add up, something I shouldn’t say, or that simply isn’t right for me.

Last question: what is your happy place?

My happy place, in general, is freedom. If I were to give it a physical form, I’d say: I’m at the outdoor basketball court, the sun is shining but it’s not hot – late April, let’s say. I stand there shooting hoops, I hear the sound of the ball bouncing, I’m alone with my thoughts, I reflect, I count how many times I can hit the basket. And I’m waiting for a friend to show up in a few minutes so we can take a few shots together.

Photos & Video by Johnny Carrano.

Styling by Alex Sinato.

Grooming by Sveva Del Campo.

Thanks to Valentina Palumbo.