‘Gilmore Girls’: 3 Facts About Luke Danes That Only Superfans Will Know
Luke Danes wasn’t supposed to be a major Gilmore Girls character. In fact, the part was originally written as a woman named Daisy. The chemistry between Scott Patterson and Lauren Graham, the actors who played Luke and Lorelai Gilmore, ensured Luke was on the show for the long haul. Over the years, Gilmore Girls fans learned plenty about Luke Danes. We’ve collected three facts about the surly diner owner that only superfans will know.
Luke Danes was a track and field star
When Gilmore Girls fans met Luke Danes, he was the owner of a small diner in the town he grew up in. He had some interests outside of cooking, like fishing and camping. That wasn’t always how it was, though. Before graduating high school and starting his small business, Luke was a high school athlete. Liz Danes, Luke’s sister, clued fans in on the fact that Luke was very into “athletics” in school. Do you remember what sport he lettered in, though?
Luke was a track and field star. He specialized in the hurdles and went to the State Finals on more than one occasion. Luke was no longer involved in sports when fans met him, but he was an incredibly healthy eater, so perhaps that was a holdover from his days as a student-athlete.
He was a huge ‘Star Trek’ fan as a kid, too
Luke Danes didn’t look like someone who would regularly watch television. During the show’s seven-season run, fans only saw Luke watch TV a handful of times, most memorably on a tiny, black-and-white portable TV. When he did watch something, it was usually sports.
Based on what fans knew of Luke’s TV preferences, it might be a bit of a shock to learn that he was a Star Trek fan as a kid. Apparently, he was such a Trekkie that he wore a shirt immortalizing the show every day. Lorelai and Rory Gilmore learn about Luke’s secret fandom from Mia Bass, the owner of the Independence Inn. Mia was also the only person Luke allowed to call him Lucas, as evidenced in the season 2 episode, “The Ins and Outs of Inns.”
Luke Danes had a high school nickname that he hated
Just like Lorelai had a nickname that she would rather forget, so did Luke Danes. The duo, who eventually got married, were both saddled with nicknames in their youth. Those nicknames were later used against them in their adult lives. Jason Stiles reminded Lorelai that her camp friends once called her Umlauts. Luke Danes was regularly called Butch by crazy Carrie Duncan.
Butch was a nickname that Luke carried through all of high school. He shook it as an adult, with no one in Stars Hollow calling him by the pet name except for Carrie. While Gilmore Girls fans all know Carrie had a crush on Luke, they never learn whether or not the high school classmates actually hooked up while they were teens. Carrie insisted it happened, while Luke denied the romantic moment frequently.
