Lionel Boyce reveals Project Hail Mary role 'took on a life of its own'

Lionel Boyce has revealed that his small role in Project Hail Mary ended up taking on "a life of its own".

The 34-year-old actor, who is best known for playing Marcus in The Bear, stars alongside Ryan Gosling and Sandra Hüller as security guard Officer Carl in his first studio blockbuster.

The role was originally small, requiring only a day of filming, but when Boyce signed on for the character, directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller decided to expand the part, and he ended up being on set for almost a month.

"I was like, 'I'm a huge fan of everyone. I'm down,'" he told WWD. "I think originally the role was like for a day or so, so (I thought) it (would be) cool spending 12 to 14 hours with these people. Worst-case scenario, I get to learn, see what a big movie's like and get the coolest general meeting of all time."

"When they found out I was on board, they were like, 'OK, we're going to write a few more scenes,'" he continued. "I had all these people around to support me, and it just took on a life of its own."

Boyce added that because Carl does not "necessarily exist" in Andy Weir's book, which the movie is based on, he was able to work with Lord and Miller to develop the character more.

"It was free rein of getting to develop it with Phil and Chris and just be like, 'OK, so this guy Carl, who is he? What does he do? Where does he fit exactly into this world?'" he explained. "(Carl) was this person where I feel that in the end, they found was a necessary ingredient in this soup that they were making."

This also allowed Boyce to experience improvising with Barbie star Gosling, and some of their off-the-cuff lines ended up in the movie.

Of his co-star, he added, "I feel like his brain's just constantly going at all times."

The actor will return as Marcus in the fifth and reportedly final season of The Bear later this year.