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- [00:08]
A
This is all of it. I'm Alison Stewart live from the WNYC studios in soho. Thank you for sharing part of your day with us. I'm really grateful that you're here. Coming up on the show today, a performative social media influencer is at the center of our hero Balthazar, which is playing at the Angelica Film Center. This week, we'll speak with its stars and its director. Plus, the World cup is officially underway in New York, and we'll talk about the best way to tour the city and the best way to eat your way through it. Whether you're a visitor or a local, that is all coming your way. But first, let's get things started with the final season of the Bear. It feels like just yesterday, suddenly everyone was talking about this new show set in Chicago, about the reality behind what happen happens in a restaurant kitchen. It was called the Bear, and yes, chef became the phrase of that summer. Four years later, here we are. The final season of the Bear is about to premiere. The chefs inside the bear are family, and a key member of that group is pastry chef Marcus Brooks, played by my next guest, Lionel Boyce. Marcus comes off as gentle, maybe a little shy, but it's clear Marcus has talent, even genius when it comes to making original desserts. Marcus has gone through his own journey throughout the show, his memorable trip to Copenhagen and his grief over losing his mom. The Bear, well, it's won all the awards. Emmys, Golden Globes, and SAG Awards. The fifth and final season premieres on Hulu on June 25th. Joining me now is actor Lionel Boyce. Hey, Lionel.
- [01:48]
B
Hi. How you doing?
- [01:49]
A
I'm doing great. When did you first hear about the Bear?
- [01:52]
B
I heard about it. Was that some. Maybe 2021. Because we shot the pilot in 2021. So I think it was maybe February. I'm impressed with my memory, February 2021, that I got the pilot script. I read it and I sent in a audition tape.
- [02:11]
A
What interested you about your character, Marcus?
- [02:15]
B
I think I immediately had an entry point where it felt like a person that I knew. I understood it was something about it. I first fell in love with the pace of the pilot, the way it was written. You can feel the tone. It was palpable. And I was like, wow, this is really cool.
- [02:28]
A
It was hard for me to watch at first. I was like, I got enough stress in my life.
- [02:32]
B
Yeah, well, that thing it read, it had such a quick tempo with the script, but we didn't know how story was thinking about it visually because obviously the pilot hadn't been shot. So it didn't have that intensity of the edit with the. With the music and the sounds. So you're just reading like, wow, this feels quick. This is cool. And then when we. I remember after we shot the pilot, maybe a couple of months later, they sent us the finished pilot. You're like, wow, yeah, this is cool. It's very encaps. It just grabbed you and you're just like, yes, this is a lot, but I love roller coasters. So with it, what was a moment
- [03:06]
A
when you knew that it hit when you realized this show is more than just a job you show up for?
- [03:13]
B
I think the cool thing about this show, it was pretty instantaneous. The way we shoot it and it comes out, it's within the same. Almost the same quarter. Like, we shot it in the winter and it came out in the summer. Well, it was just so immediate. And with season one, I remember memes started popping up and you know that. Okay. That it's like, crossed a barrier and it just. It was watching a wildfire grill where you saw like one or two memes, and then the meme pages you follow start to post memes, and we're just sharing in a group chat. You're like, wow, Jeremy's face is everywhere. And then within like two weeks, there's like, everyone's watching the show, everyone's talking about it, and you're like, wow, I've never been a part of something a that's reached that critical mass and reached something that big that fast.
- [03:57]
A
How was Marcus originally described to you?
- [04:00]
B
Marcus was described as. I don't remember. I remember talking to Chris about it and we. He mostly just talked about he's the pastry chef and where he wants him to go, which was season four, where he's like, you know, he's going to hit. Become one of the best pastry chefs in all of Illinois. And I remember that was cool. And we mostly just talked about just the. His creativity and just like. And we talked about, like, our love of pastries and my favorite donuts desserts xyz. It wasn't much about his personality. I think it was just like, he's cool. He's a cool, everyman kind of guy. And I think through the scripts, you just really got a sense of who he was more than it was the description up top.
- [04:45]
A
We're talking about the final season of the Bear. It premieres on Hulu on June 25th. My guest is actor Lionel Boyce, who plays Marcus Brooks, the pastry chef of the Bear, the restaurant on the show. What Does Marcus get out of cooking, out of baking?
- [05:01]
B
I think he gets what most people get out of discovering their passion. Whereas there's this. It's a gratifying sense of. I think you're just in the right frequency. What you want to do is what you're doing, and it's not about it being easy or hard. It's just, like, validating that you're like, wow, I'm enjoying this. And I can let this consume me and take over my day. I have the itch to. Every morning, I wake up with this itch that I want to scratch, and this thing is scratching it. So I think he's just getting that euphoria that comes with being attuned to what you're. What you feel you're meant to do.
- [05:38]
A
What has been your understanding of how Marcus has evolved over the course of these four or five seasons?
- [05:45]
B
That's good. I think my understanding of it is how your relationship to something you love evolves with the external forces of the inevitable changes that come with life. I think the point of life is to experience and understand temporary. So it's like, how do you hold on to something that you want to be permanent as everything is temporary around you?
- [06:05]
A
How is that applied to you in real life?
- [06:09]
B
Yeah, it's cool. I think I felt that I've had this similar journey where it's like an understanding of. I felt like my career has coincided with Marcus's, where he's, like, discovering I didn't grow up wanting to be an actor, to get into, like, writing any of these things. And discovering it did feel like is the second one of life you come from came from playing sports, similar to Marcus. And when I discovered it, I was like, I never cared about sports as much as I care about this. And I just want to figure out, how do I do this for the rest of my life? And it's just about, like, the cure. The curiosity is on. It's just like following the curiosity in every way. And it's funny. Marcus kind of shows me different ways to apply it and how to, like, pull from the world and apply it to what you're making. Your output is just turn on the sensitivity. I think he's very externally sensitive. And I'm like, okay, I should, like, do that. And even with this, it was cool because he starts off as a person who doesn't really know anything about baking, the pastry world. And so each season, I had to learn more so that he knew more. So it was by me having to focus on that and expand it was like, oh, wow. Yeah. Cool. I can apply this to my own career. And I was fortunate working with Courtney Storer, who's an incredible chef, and the culinary producer, Malcolm Livingston, who's.
- [07:32]
A
They have a culinary producer?
- [07:33]
B
Yeah, we have a culinary producer. Yeah. And Courtney Storer and Maddie were really instrumental, especially in the beginning, where we leaned on them a lot because they had so many stories, so many specifics, where if you had any insecurity about, like, how do I hold this? Or what's like, the physicality of this, they're like, yeah, this, or they just give you a story. And it was just a way to keep our us out of our heads with and, like, focus on, like, the character and the story as opposed to, like, can I do this? But it also helped us because it was just a place to train. And, like, I want to work on specifically, like, understanding this. How do you do this? Cutting or xyz. But I say that, say I worked with Courtney throughout every season, and then season three, I believe three or four, work with Malcolm Livingston, who is this incredible pastry chef who I feel is like a guru of creativity. And in this way where it was so many isms about, like, life and approach to creative practice, where I think before meeting him, I understood baking a science, and it's just that everything is precise. And he took science and turned it into magic to me, where he's just all creative and creative expression. It's a place where he's like, he's a heart in a steel cage. And I'm like, that's so cool. And it was so. I got so many things from him just from, like, the times of talking to him. And just as he's teaching me how to do these simple things, I'm like, wow. Like, this relates to actually what I'm working on outside of this.
- [09:02]
A
It's interesting with the culinary producer and all of these experts you talk to and helped you learn the craft of baking. What is something that you didn't know that now you know about baking? Like holding a whisk or about egg yolks, Something that just sort of blew your mind.
- [09:19]
B
I think it's so much of. It's like the phys. It's similar. I came from a sports background, and a lot of sports is about the physicality, like putting yourself in the right position. And it's funny you say hold a whisk because that was something Courtney would say to me a lot, where it's like, it's the way you hold the wiz. I would like hold it delicately. And from. As she, like, no, just get in there. Like, get your body in the position. And it's just like, yeah, go for it. And I was like, this is cool because it's also learning to do something new. As an adult, you can kind of observe your own creative process in a different kind of way where I'm just like, oh, that is funny. Whenever I'm like, trepidatious about something, I am much more, like, weary. Some people can, like, blaze through the door. And I'm just like, delicate and like, kind of poking and circling the surface. And they're like, no, just punch through the door.
- [10:05]
A
Yeah.
- [10:05]
B
And so I was like, yeah, that's like, take. It's a different form of like, reminding yourself to take a different kind of ownership into the things you're doing.
- [10:12]
A
We're talking about the final season of the Bear. It premieres on Hulu on June 25th. My guest is actor Lionel Boyce, who plays Marcus Brooks, the pastry chef of the Bear, the restaurant on the show. This is a nice text we got from somebody. It says, I love Lionel Boyce. Marcus is my favorite character on the entirely due to his touching portrayal. His performance has brought me to tears more than once.
- [10:35]
B
Oh, that's cool. That's awesome. That makes me feel so great. Cause that's what I think. Everything we do, we hope it connects. And getting a text like that, for a second, I was worried it was a text from someone I knew and I didn't know what they were gonna say. But that's much better.
- [10:50]
A
It's interesting because Marcus does have to deal with grief on this show. The loss of his mom. What does that mean for your character in this show?
- [11:02]
B
I think it means a lot of things because I think season one was he's carrying this thing internally that we have no idea of. We're just seeing an explosion happen in this thing that maybe he'd been feeling disconnected. It's like it was a cog that caught a wheel where he's like, oh, I have an outlet for these things that I've been taking care of. My mom's in this debilitating state and he's. Every day he's leaving the restaurant, he's going home to take care of her, and she's reached a point where she's non verbal anymore. In season two, you really see that relationship and you see what it means for him. The fear of taking up space for himself. He. He'd become comfortable being the one where he for. Forwent any of his dreams. Any of these things for stability being. I think he is very much like the glue, in a way, in the kitchen, but it's just because of, like, he's okay with, like, letting his feelings take the backseat in the back burner. And so I think the loss of his mother is, like, kind of having to confront, on one hand, these things that, like, your worst. One of your worst fears is, like, losing your parents is like, everyone's thinking about it. As our parents age, you're constantly hearing it. Like, hearing the. I remember thinking about the first time I heard my mom's voice change on the phone, where I was like, you can hear a little bit of the rasp, like, start to onset. And you're like, wow, like, my parents are aging that, like, all these things. So that's what you're constantly thinking about. And I think for him. So on one hand, he's faced this worst fear that everyone reaches. And then on the other hand, it's like all of this time that was allotted to her has come back to him. So it's about, what do you do with it? And he has a place to focus it. So it's like taking up space for himself and allowing himself to. You know, he has. He has a goal, something to go for, and he understands what it takes by being around Carmi and Sid and Luca and these people who kind of act as guiding forces and showing him what it is that he wants to achieve and how to get there. So I think it's a left and a right hand and learning how to use both.
- [13:02]
A
In this episode, I think it was called the donut you are. You come out and you show Carmi this donut you spent a lot of time working on, and he slaps it out of your hands in that moment. First of all, did Marcus learn anything from that episode? Aside that Carmi can be a bit of a.
- [13:19]
B
You know what? I think he did. I think you, like, there is funny, because I remember that was the season one. I remember being like, I actually understand Carmen. Like, this is the worst day in the kitchen. And, like, it's like, five times. And I think I remember IO gave a great gift where when we were, like, rehearsing and stuff, she just, like, called him a space cadet. He's a space cadet today. And I was like, yeah, you're totally right. Like, and it is so much going on, and he's just ignoring it. He's not paying attention to doing his job, and he just wants to.
- [13:51]
A
Yeah, this donut.
- [13:52]
B
Yeah. And it's like, yeah, like, 20 minutes later, you come back and I, like, I said four times, like, hey, what's going on with your things? And you're like, in a minute. And you're like, hey. No, actually, I know this is a bad time, but look at this creation. So I think. I think he learned two things in that moment where it's like, he had this great breakthrough where he's, like, understood how to make this donut he'd been spending all season to make. And on the other hand, it's like you can't get caught up in your own world. Like, you have to learn how to balance. I think that's kind of what has been his journey. Because even when you think about season two, it's about balancing, like, this new love with his mother. And then season three is balancing the grief with the work. And then season four is, like, balancing, like, this loneliness that's come, like, with this void, with connecting to the people around you and, like, choosing the family.
- [14:40]
A
Lionel, when you heard that you had to go to Copenhagen for that specific episode, it was directed by Rami Youssef, who's a great guy.
- [14:48]
B
Yeah.
- [14:49]
A
And you had to. So Marcus has to go study underneath another chef in Copenhagen. It's culture shock in the best way. You're living on a boat. What was your reaction when you first read about that particular role?
- [15:01]
B
It was both awesome and terrifying because it's like, they didn't say anything before. And you're reading the scripts. We're fortunate. We get all the scripts at once. So I get to episode four, reading it, and then just like, oh, yeah, it starts in the kitchen. Cool. And then it's like, it focuses on Marcus, and it's like, oh. And it keeps going by page 16. I'm like, it's only been Marcus. Okay.
- [15:21]
A
It's only one.
- [15:22]
B
Okay. And so you're like, this is cool. It's exciting because, like, you, like, this is also part of. I love traveling. Like, oh, we get to go to Copenhagen to, like, shoot this episode. And then you're like, oh, yeah, it's only me. And it's only. I didn't know Will Pozer at the time, but I'm just like, this is a person who, as a fan, I've been a fan of, and I just know he's a great actor and stuff. So I'm like, you're just, like, wrestling with all the, like, the natural doubt insecurities that come with that, where you're like, well, I don't know. I haven't done anything like this this is rising occasion. I don't want to be the one to let the show down by not, like, executing and delivering on my behalf. So I became worried about it. But it was very exciting at the same time because I was like, wow. Like, I think every. Everyone's trusted me to believe that I could do that is, like, I was very appreciative and warmed by.
- [16:12]
A
I loved watching you and Will Poulter in that scene because you're not necessarily facing each other. You're facing outward, and you're having this deep conversation, and you're working at the same time, but you're not really looking at each other. It was really interesting.
- [16:24]
B
Someone told me a funny thing where they said the way that men express emotions is side by side, not looking at each other, looking out of something. And I'm like, it's totally true. I think about all the time when I make a new friend and we're, like, doing an activity, and it's like, mumbling words, and then eventually it's a cog that catches a wheel. So. Yeah.
- [16:42]
A
Did you find that Marcus, when you played Marcus, does he come back as a different person after that trip?
- [16:47]
B
100%. I think that's. It's the first time he never left Chicago. He'd never been on his own. It's like kind of a. It's not necessarily an ego death. It's just like. I think the walls of the ego, like, fall down, and you're like, oh, I didn't know I can expand. It's like, you didn't. Where he assumed the walls, where he's, like, reaching. Oh, it's like, further away. So he's like, it's possibility. Possibilities are open. He's like, there's a person I could be that I never considered before.
- [17:19]
A
Oh, we're getting some texts already. This says, marcus is my favorite character on the bear, too. This one says, love the bear. It has everything. Can't wait to see the final season, but wish that it wasn't the last. When we're preparing dinner, I still yell, hands that my husband knows. It's time to grab the. This text says, how has working on the bear made you a better home cook or baker, or did you start doing it when you started the show?
- [17:43]
B
I started doing it when I started the show. I think what everyone's upset about me is that I don't bring it home still, because I'm very much. I have, like, friends who, like, love to cook more than me, and I'm always just like, I'll come Over. But I was. I had, like, moved into a new place recently, and I was like, all right, I'm gonna start cooking a little bit more. But I think it's added some confidence in, like, being at home and being able to do it where I won't feel before, I would have assumed, like, I wouldn't have done it because I was like, it's only going to be disappointment where I feel like I could do a little bit.
- [18:17]
A
This text is interesting. It says, Lionel is giving us deep representation of culture in a way we haven't seen before. And the episode with IO, I think directed, which featured her and Lionel's stories, really felt like a love letter to black, but to all bipoc families. I could watch it on repeat forever.
- [18:34]
B
Oh, that's cool. That's so cool. Yeah, that was. See, last season, me and I wrote it was Sid's day off, and Janica directed it. That was what we were hoping for was just like, there's so many other parts of Chicago, and it's just cool to, like, what is Sid's home life? Who is the people outside of the kitchen other than the people we've seen? And it's just being. It's just about just being.
- [19:01]
A
Can I ask you a question? You have a Falling Water shirt on Frank Lloyd Wright. I'm curious about your shirt.
- [19:07]
B
Oh, yeah. I don't know. I like architecture a lot. Oh, yeah? Yeah. I love. My favorite house is the Ennis House, but I've never been to Falling Water House. I did go to when I was in Chicago. I went to tour the Frank Lloyd Wright house. I think the one first one he lived in and he get to tour. And it was cool seeing a lot of the ideas that he had that he expanded to a full house. You're seeing, like, the beginning and the birth of these ideas where he's trying out different parts of this house. It's disjointed in this beautiful way that you're seeing. He's like, okay, this could be, like, you're saying a little bit of Mayan revival that turns into, like, the Hollyhock House or the Ennis House or whatever. And I think the original version of the Falling Water House is around the corner from his house. It's a smaller version of it. So, yeah, I feel it's similar thing to learning about baking. I like to read some architecture books, and they, like, relate much more to life and creativity than anything else.
- [19:59]
A
Have you ever been on the architecture tour in Chicago?
- [20:02]
B
No. It's the one thing I Didn't do. Because we go in the dead of winter. Oh, no. And the days that it's nice, I'm like, either shooting or I just forget to go.
- [20:09]
A
You gotta do it. It's such a great tour.
- [20:12]
B
That's what everyone. Everyone who's done it says. Everyone's done it but me. But I think I'm gonna just have to go back to Chicago and do it.
- [20:18]
A
You need to do it. My guest is Lionel Boyce. He plays Marcus Brooks, the pastry chef on the Bear, the show about to enter its final season. What are you thinking about as the show enters its final season? What went through your mind as you were shooting? Like, this is the last time we'll do this?
- [20:35]
B
Yeah, I think that that was exactly. I tried to always be aware of the. The present and what's happening. And I just kept thinking about it just makes you realize how much time has passed. More than anything. Where I was like, while we shot the pilot five years ago, this is. I didn't. I didn't go to like a college and go to four years. I went to a community college for a year and a half and then I stopped and I found this track which has led me to the show. So I never really experienced that feeling of graduating high school except for graduating high school. And so it's. In. This industry is very much built around like, kind of everyone's freelance. So it's like you finish a job and it's free fall till you find the next one. And with that comes the understanding of nothing will ever feel exactly like the previous thing. Good, bad or whatever. They're all singular feelings. And even if it's parallel, some might be more successful than others. You'll never replicate what this was. And I've. I understand that. And it'll have. It'll constantly redefine itself throughout my career. But I've just been trying to be very present. Just like, I'll absorb it all so that I can at least have it in my memory and I can recall as much as possible.
- [21:42]
A
And by the way, you were very hilarious in Project Hail Mary.
- [21:45]
B
Oh, thanks.
- [21:45]
A
That was really, really a funny role.
- [21:48]
B
Oh, thank you so much. That was a lot of fun, too. That was another. I've been big fans of Chris and Phil and Ryan and Sandra, everyone in that movie. And it was like a gift to be able to just see how they work and hang out with them and they're all great humans. It was another set where I came as a visitor and it was just warm and open and I had I felt like I've made a little bit of family there, too.
- [22:10]
A
The final season of the Bear premieres on Hulu on June 25th. My guest has been actor Lionel Boyce, who plays Marcus Brooks. Thanks for coming to the studio. We really appreciate your time today.
- [22:21]
B
Yeah, thanks for having me. This is awesome. We all take good care of the things that matter. Our homes, our pets, our cars. Are you doing the same for your brain? Acting early to protect brain health may help reduce the risk of dementia from conditions like Alzheimer's disease. Studies have found that up to 45% of dementia cases may be prevented or delayed. By managing risk factors, you can change make brain health a priority. Ask your doctor about your risk factors and for a cognitive assessment. Learn more@brainhealthmatters.com
- [22:55]
A
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