Marcus Anderson Jr was born in Augusta, GA and spent his childhood and early teen years raised as a military dependent. He is the eldest of Maruquel and MAJ Marcus Anderson Sr (Ret). He began taking acting classes during his collegiate studies at North Carolina Central University and Barton County Community College. He received his Bachelor's of Arts in Multidisciplinary Studies from the University of Oklahoma in 2012, where he also walked on the track and field team as a sprinter. He moved to Los Angeles after university to pursue his career and took various acting classes throughout the city. In 2016, he starred in the SyFy channel's cult hit Zoombies and had co-star appearances on Jane The Virgin (CW), Bosch (Amazon), and Life in Pieces (CBS). In the same year, he was cast as a Series Regular in the ABC pilot Presence, written and directed by John Ridley (12 Years a Slave) and also made guest appearances on Lucifer (Netflix).