Lionel Boyce

Boyce, who is of African American heritage, grew up in Inglewood, California.^[5][6] His father was an Arrowhead Water delivery driver, and his mother was an L.A. sheriff.^[7] He worked at Hollister Co. and played football.^[2][5] He attended Westchester High School, where he befriended Tyler, the Creator in a theater class.^[8] He enjoys playing chess.^[7]

A past member of alternative hip hop musical collective Odd Future, he co-created the 2012 sketch comedy television series Loiter Squad.^[1][2] In 2015, Boyce and Tyler, the Creator formed Bald Fade Productions.^[9] Among other things, he and Tyler created the animated series The Jellies!^[10][9][6]

Boyce plays Marcus Brooks, a sensitive, silent and kind-hearted pastry chef,^[1][11] in the comedy-drama television series The Bear.^[10][12] 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.^[5][6][13] Additionally, before shooting the episode "Honeydew", he did extensive training with Courtney Storer, the show's culinary producer.^[14]

Early 2024, Boyce helped Daiya launch its cheese dupe Fromage Forgery.^[15][16] Around that time, he also joined the cast of the upcoming thriller film Shell.^[17] Later that year, he teamed up with Earl Sweatshirt for collaborative effort "DJ Billy Jole".^[18]

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.^[19][20]