Meet The Tattoo Designer Behind Jeremy Allen White’s Ink On ‘The Bear’

When tattoo artist Benny Shields signed on to design Carmy’s (Jeremy Allen White) tattoos for season one of “The Bear,” he knew the project to be something special; what he didn’t expect was for fans around the world to tattoo his designs onto their own bodies in the years and seasons to come. Shields was brought on to “The Bear” early in the pandemic after his good friend Jeremy Allen White reached out directly. It wasn't the first time an actor had enlisted him to help shape a character through ink. Years earlier, Ryan Gosling solicited Shields to create the now iconic tattoos for his character in “The Place Beyond the Pines.” As he recalls, “[Gosling] had been trying to do most of [the tattoos] himself and he called me and was like, ‘We're shooting soon and this isn't going well. I need help,’ so I just drew a bunch of stuff in two or three days.” The rest was history. 

Shields began tattooing in young adulthood after he had “run out of options” as he puts it and needed a job. At the time, he says he didn't have any tattoos and “didn't like them.” Of course, both of those things changed once he apprenticed in Upstate New York. From the beginning, Shields’ approach to tattooing has been defined by a charmingly unrefined spirit that embraces imperfection. “When I first moved to LA, I had a little doctor's bag and I would just do house calls. I wasn't that good, but that was kind of the whole vibe. Not terrible, but just good enough,” Shields says. These days, he operates out of his private home studio in LA, where he mostly tattoos his friends, including White, where his inking sessions come with an impeccably curated soundtrack, free of charge.

When it came to “The Bear,” Shields’ goal was to create physical artwork that allowed White to fully inhabit the aesthetic of a Michelin-level chef while remaining true to Carmy's character. Shields took cues from Anthony Bourdain's food shows, which he binged from start to finish in preparation for the job. At the same time, he drew from his own experience and proximity to the service industry. “My wife has been in service forever, so I know a little bit about that world,” Shields says. “I also used to wait tables back in the day on Sunset, so I understand all the kitchen stuff, but I definitely did a lot of research for this because I don't know that much about fine dining.”

Of Carmy’s 15 tattoos, Shields’ personal favorite is an image of the Grim Reaper shaking hands with a bottle of alcohol. “It was based on an old prohibition poster, and there's a lot of [sobriety] in the show,” Shields says. “It just seemed like a funny duo: the Booze and the Reaper.” While compiling the designs with White, Shields sought to strike a tasteful balance reminiscent of the tattoos he had come across during his research. “We didn't want to go too hard on the food stuff, so there's a little bit of chef stuff but not a crazy amount,” Shields explains. One of White’s contributions to the tattoo designs, and one of the more blatant homages to food, is of a Pyrex measuring cup with a globe resting inside.

While design is the foundation of Shields' work, placement is an equally considered—if often overlooked—part of the process. Drawing inspiration from old Russian prison body suits, he favors compositions that feel balanced and deliberate. “I like the way [Russian prisoners] laid everything out—symmetrical for the most part, and pretty iconic and graphic,” Shields says. “It needs to flow.” Still, his approach to placement on “The Bear” was more instinctual than anything else. “It was not rocket science with us,” he says. “We just kind of slapped them on.”

His design process is extremely collaborative, incorporating the actor’s feedback and vision for the character in each iteration. The first version of Carmy’s tattoos resembled “very busy” patchwork-type sleeves, but were pared down at White’s request. “There's a lot of people that say tattoos don't have to mean anything, [and] that's true. But when you're making a character, it helps to start there,” Shields says. “I like to build a whole catalog for the character, and then you just get rid of all the ones that don't work: start with a lot, end up with a little is usually how it works.”

Shield’s newest designs can be seen on Chef Luca (Will Poulter), who joined the show in season two and whose role has expanded over the seasons.  The style of tattoos was based on Poulter’s brother, who was an inspiration behind the character. “What I drew for him originally was much darker,” Shields says. “I wanted it to be a little more black work just so it didn't look so much like the other character. I wanted him to have more traditional vibes, but we ended up scaling that back.” A small design mistake in Luca’s ink even made it into the end product. “There's the chemical compound sugar on [Chef Luca’s] wrist, but I messed it up when I did it. So it's actually not the right formula; one of the numbers is wrong,” Shields says. “I was like, anyone that Googles that is gonna know I made a mistake, but I think that stuff's funny too.”

Listen to Shields’ tattooing playlist below.