Luca Lombardo loves soccer and dancing – and that’s how it started. “We were all at a soccer camp and I think we all just started posting more and more videos, and through that, we got a little bit of a following, and it was very exciting so then we kept going.”
His videos on the app are simple but reach millions around the world, “I do a lot of dancing or POV, which is like something I feel like everyone can relate to, and I feel like that’s a really good way to reach out to audiences from other countries.” He’s been able to keep close to his friends as well because of Tiktok saying, “It honestly feels like kind of a little family.”
Luca’s regular co-stars on the screen are Mark and Maximo but they don’t go to his school. He met Maximo when he was 12, and met Mark when he was 15 through soccer.
@lucalombardo pew pew @maximorivano @markanastasio
A 16-year-old from Westport, Connecticut, Luca plays club soccer and is known at his high school for being the athletic type. It hasn’t all been easy on the field for him though, Luca has overcome ankle injuries from soccer. “Once you get a bad injury in soccer, it’s very hard to come back from it, and like keep pushing yourself.”
Outside of some being a bit afraid of spiders and snakes he’s learned to conquer his fear of heights. He did this by confronting them head-on – by doing cliff jumping with Mark and Maximo. The first time he went cliff jumping he went to Devil’s Glen in western Connecticut. “And it’s probably the most cold water I’ve ever been in of like all time, it’s like it’s very, very high up so like you, I kind of don’t even look down I just kind of jump without even looking down. And then once you get in the water usually go into shock. It’s so cold”
He grew up always wanting to be a professional soccer player. When he goes to college soon (he is considering studying to become a doctor), his plan is to keep playing soccer and keep doing TikTok for fun, “Going to college to play soccer is probably my main priority and TikTok is like — it’s something I have fun doing with my friends.”
@lucalombardo tryna go bowling? @markanastasio
If he makes it to the pros in soccer, he’ll be ready to deal with the fame as he already has a fandom that recognize him in public. The first time he was recognized was at Colony Pizza in Fairfield, Connecticut. “Ten girls came up to me, Mark, and Maximo. And they were like asking for pictures. “I was like in shock. Because I was like, this is like crazy, like people recognize me like, and I’m like, kind of I wouldn’t say like famous but like people are like starting to recognize you around town and like, in places that you’re not actually from like, I’m from Westport, I was in Fairfield. And they recognize me so it was like, it was really crazy for me to think about.”
He’s even now been a part of a big TikTok star meet up at a mall, “We were expecting like very few amount of people like probably like a couple hundred. And then when we got there, there’s just so so many people and you’re just like, insane. Like, we’re like, in shock because there’s so many people. And it was just like, it was great to like get pictures with all the fans and like it was it was like it was a really good time for us.”
Coronavirus has hurt his soccer season and prevented him from collaborating with some of his friends. The first time he recognized something was wrong was when he was getting pizza. He and his friends all got text messages from their parents at the same time, saying come home now. “When we got home, we kind of like, it hit us like this virus is real. And people were dying and like how it could affect like, if we saw grandparents and things like that. So then we had to quarantine for like — that’s when the quarantine really started for us.”
@lucalombardo memories? @markanastasio @maximorivano
When he’s not training or filming videos, he plays Fortnite and Among Us. His favorite musical artist is One Direction, and his favorite TV shows are Prison Break, Breaking Bad, and Vampire Diaries. But don’t worry fans, the lowest he’ll let his phone go is 1 percent so you know he’ll keep posting.
His message for his fans is “Do what you want to do. Don’t let other people determine what you want to do and just stick to what you like, have your aspirations for and your dreams and passions.”
Luca has merch coming out soon – so keep an eye out for that.
