As Marcus,Boyce is the guy everyone wants to be around.
Hes having that effect on Hollywood too.
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And then I pick something and everyones like, I dont like this, he says, laughing.
Im like, Well, I dont know.
Its not like Im a seasoned chef.
At around six-foot-three, Boyce is perched higher than most at the old-time diner table.
The 33-year-old speaks in hushed tones, sometimes at a nervous speed.
Much like his character, the mild-mannered Marcus, Boyce is usually the calmest person in a crowd.
Marcus is a man of few words; when he does speak, its sincere and with purpose.
The task at hand?
Minutes before, he is fucking up at placing flower petals atop a fancy pudding with chopsticks.
Sorry, Im a little nervous, he says.
To the world, to yourself, to other people.
Its a captivating depiction of someone discovering an unexpected passion.
Its also largely Boyces own life story.
He grew up in Inglewood, California, the second of three children.
When she wasnt working, she was listening to talk radio or watching T. D. Jakes sermons on TV.
She always says she missed her calling as an orator, Boyce tells me.
The kind of characters I like are similar to my mom.
Someone who very much stands on their own ground, very larger-than-life characters.
Like Will Ferrell or Danny McBride types.
In his early years, Boyce was similarly boisterous.
He played basketball and football and was on the track team, and he never stuck to one crowd.
Outside sports, he experimented with constructing new story lines for his favorite TV show.
I wanted to understand the link between Black people, kung fu, and anime, he remembers.
Around the beginning of high school, he grew more reserved.
I actually dont remember the transition when I calmed down, he says.
Hes like, Yeah, howd you know?
I was like, Because I could never forget that moisturized skin color you got, brother.
And he was like, What the fuck wrong with you?
The jokes we gravitated to were different I was more absurd, over-the-top, and he was so sniper.
More toned but still outrageous in its own way.
And thats where we clicked.
Boyce would write and act in sketches.
It was promising enough for him to leave his football dreams in the rearview.
He was also appearing more regularly in Odd Futures output under the name L Boy.
On Hi, the intro for the collectives 2012 releasedThe OF Tape Vol.
Lets have a moment of silence for that nigga real quick.
They can go to a hundred, and I wont be like, Get the fuck away from me.
My brain is just always running, so I can keep up with wherever theyre going.
Loiter Squadwas like kicking the door open.
In hindsight, it was crazy, Boyce reflects.
Youre not considering anything other than,Were doing it.
Loiter Squadran for three seasons between 2012 and 2014.
We started getting a handle on how to actually execute our ideas during the third season, Boyce says.
We were headed to a point where it would have been funny to five people.
No, you lean into it.
AfterLoiter Squad,Boyce realized he liked being both in front of and behind the camera.
I thought,How can I do more of this?
he says.The Bearis the first major role he landed from an audition.
Reading the script, you could feel what you see in the pilot, the pace of it.
And Marcus made sense to me.
He was also impressed by how much Boyces commitment to film came through in their conversations.
Lionel has such a sensitivity and intelligence to him, Storer says.
In the coming seasons, you see him pass that information hes learned on to other people.
Boyce is expected to earn his first Emmy nomination this summer for his performance in Honeydew.
Id be like, I helped make this, instead of, I do this.
I think it was because my path was nontraditional.
He doesnt feel that when playing Marcus.
His gradual ownership of the role is perhaps why people identify so strongly with his character.
Hes handsome, sweet, loves his mom.
Occasionally, Marcus breaks out of his shell to flirt with Sydney, whose emotions are harder to read.
Youre not really sure.
Its like,I like this person, but am I supposed to like them more?
I guess I dont really think about it.
To me, Im just wherever the story goes as long as it makes sense.
People have already made up their minds of what they think and want.
Sydney never feels closed off to the idea of something deeper with Carmy.
I think theres some really lovely and powerful moments between Sydney and Marcus in season three.
They connect because theyre such similar people who are really excited about what they do, Edebiri says.
We got to do some scenes together that Im kind of nervous to see but excited.
Whether or not something happens between Marcus and Sydney, Marcus is due for some significant changes.
How will such a crucial loss affect the character going forward?
Thats a scenario Ive daydreamed about.
You cant really fathom it, Boyce says.
Im like,This is wild.No dreams a farce now.
He also has a love for chess; he plays against people on his phone almost every day.
Theres this crazy rush you get when you play a stranger, he says.
How often does he win?
Maybe its just Im playing people who arent really that great.
He offers to teach, just as he taught Tyler.
Its a tight space.
Pawns, first row.
I get the sense that Boyce lives for these teachable moments regardless of which end hes on.
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