Lionel was born in Brooklyn, New York. He attended Howard University where he studied architecture. He first studied acting with Bernard Rachelle at the prestigious young actors conservatory at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. His theatre debut was in a West Side Story at the Brooklyn Academy of Music when he was 17. His film debut came in 1990 where he was nominated in the NY film festival for best young actor and the film was runner up in the festival even in unedited form.