DUBAI: US actor, writer and singer Lionel Boyce found fame as the mild-mannered pastry chef Marcus Brooks in FX on Hulu’s “The Bear,” streaming in the Middle East on Disney Plus.
In a show that can often be chaotic and anxiety-inducing, Boyce’s character is an island of calm.
Season three picks up with Marcus grieving the recent loss of his ailing mother, and his eulogy provides the season’s most touching scene.
In an interview with Arab News, Boyce joked that he felt terrified he first read the script for the episode.
“I just started reading the script and there was just a lot of words. But, no, I think the first thing I felt was … you just feel for him and it pierces your heart a bit,” he said.
“I think it was cool that you’ve learned about Marcus’ mom in season two in real time, just where she’s at, but you’d never learned who she was and who she was to him before that. Because in season two, you just see how he’s her caretaker. And this eulogy shows how she was the caretaker for him and protected him. And, so, I thought that was really special.”
Boyce avoided reading other famous monologues to prepare for the heart-wrenching scene, but he did remember thinking about a scene in the 2021 film “Judas and the Black Messiah,” featuring Daniel Kaluuya.
“Daniel Kaluuya is on a podium giving a speech. He starts with an emotion and he quickly covers it. I was watching it specifically because it has this arc to it, where he starts with fear and, by the end, he’s absolved of his fear. He’s releasing it. So, I just thought that was cool,” said Boyce.
“I think he reminded me that, in these scenarios, people are just trying to get through the words, you know. They’re trying to do hard stuff, push and suppress these feelings, you don’t want to end up crying. And it’s a hard thing.”
Asked to highlight some fun moments on set, Boyce said: “One of them was just the final scene of season three where they’re at a party at an apartment. That was a lot of fun. Because it was just like, you’re faking a party, but faking a party still means you have a real party. So, everyone is like listening to music, dancing and just like having fun. Even sitting around and hanging out felt very loose, free and fun.
“And then another one was purely because they had some king crab on set. And I love king crab. So, I gotta do some of that. And that was a highlight of my life.”
