Lionel Boyce (born May 9, 1991), also known as L-Boy, is an American actor, writer, producer, and former musician. He is best known for playing Marcus Brooks in the comedy-drama series The Bear (2022–2026), for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2024, and Carl in the science fiction film Project Hail Mary (2026).
Boyce is also known for being a member of hip hop musical collective Odd Future as well as for co-creating the sketch comedy series Loiter Squad (2012–2014) and the animated sitcom The Jellies! (2017–2019).
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Early life
Boyce, who is of African American heritage, grew up in Inglewood, California. His father was an Arrowhead Water delivery driver, and his mother was an Los Angeles County sheriff. He worked at Hollister Co. and played football. He attended Westchester High School, where he befriended Tyler, the Creator in a theater class.
Career
A former member of alternative hip hop collective Odd Future, he co-created the 2012 sketch comedy television series Loiter Squad. In 2014, he teamed up with Earl Sweatshirt for collaborative effort DJ Billy Jole. Boyce and Tyler, the Creator formed Bald Fade Productions in 2015, co-creating the adult animated sitcom The Jellies!
Since 2022, Boyce has played Marcus Brooks, a sensitive, quiet and kind-hearted pastry chef, in the comedy-drama television series The Bear. He received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for the series. Before shooting The Bear, Boyce observed a day at Tartine bakery in Los Angeles, and spent two weeks staging at Hart Bageri in Copenhagen. Additionally, before shooting the episode "Honeydew", he did extensive training with Courtney Storer, the show's culinary producer.
Early 2024, Boyce helped Daiya launch its cheese dupe Fromage Forgery. Around that time, he also joined the cast of the thriller film Shell.
On 31 July 2025, Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free's multidisciplinary creative communications company PGLang announced Project 3, their newest branch and creative agency. The announcement was released along with a short film titled The Agency, starring Chase Sui Wonders and Boyce, directed by Jack Begert, who co-wrote it alongside Free.
Personal life
Boyce enjoys playing chess.