The Wire. Treme. Suits. Jack Ryan. Wendell Pierce has spent four decades building the kind of filmography most actors would envy. Yet just a few years ago, he found himself asking a question that may surprise people: What if my best work is already behind me?
Rather than slowing down, Pierce did the opposite.
“When in doubt, challenge yourself more and face your fears,” he tells Yahoo. “Courage is acting not in the absence of fear, but in the face of it.”
So he sought out the role that intimidated him most: Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman. The acclaimed 2019 London production earned Pierce his first Olivier Award nomination and later transferred to Broadway in 2022, where he received a Tony nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Play. The challenge reignited something.
Today, Pierce is in the midst of one of the busiest stretches of his career. He’s fresh off playing Daily Planet editor Perry White in last summer’s Superman. In May, he reprised his role as CIA director James Greer in the Prime Video film Jack Ryan: Ghost War. He remains a regular on Elsbeth, recurs on Power Book III: Raising Kanan and recently completed a run as the title character in Shakespeare’s Othello in Washington, D.C.
Now, he’s stepping into a new project: the boxing drama They Fight, which just began streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+. The film follows Walt Manigan (André Holland), a formerly incarcerated boxer who finds a path forward by helping coach a group of young fighters at a Washington, D.C., youth gym.
“It’s the humanity of the characters and the writing,” Pierce says when asked what drew him to the project. “That’s really the barometer by which I try to select material.”
Below, Pierce reflects on the young actors — like former costar Michael B. Jordan — who keep him inspired, explains why The Wire should never be rebooted and reveals how creator David Simon once strung him along about a possible prequel.
Why ‘The Wire’ stands the test of time
More than 20 years after The Wire premiered, Pierce is still discovering just how deeply the HBO drama continues to connect with viewers — sometimes, quite literally.
He laughs, remembering one fan who stepped outside moments after he finished watching the series finale.
“I said, ‘Oh.’ He said, ‘No, you don’t understand. I literally just finished binge-watching it. I turned off the television [after] the last episode of the last season, and I walked out the door, and you’re standing there. I just can’t believe it.'”
Adds Pierce: “It’s been a real honor and humbling experience to be a part of something that special.”
Pierce (with Dominic West, David Simon and Sonja Sohn in 2004) is still stopped by fans of The Wire.
(Scott Wintrow via Getty Images)
Not that he’s all that surprised by the show’s success.
“I knew it was special,” says the Juilliard grad, who played homicide detective Bunk Moreland on the show. “I knew we started to develop a following in the middle of it. I knew that it was going to be something I was going to be proud of. I did not know it was going to be a cultural touchstone.”
One of his favorite parts now is watching parents introduce the series to a new generation. “I love the fact that now, two decades later, people are sharing it with their children who are now old enough to watch it.”
But even as Hollywood continues reviving beloved television shows, Pierce has no interest in revisiting The Wire. Instead, he’d rather storytellers borrow the philosophy behind it. “It’s like a really good novel. I think they should learn from it.”
He didn’t always feel that way. “I thought I had convinced David [Simon, the creator of The Wire] to think about doing a prequel,” he admits. “And he just strung me along and said, ‘Yes, that’s a good idea.'”
Years later, Simon finally admitted what was really happening.”He said, ‘I was just saying that to get rid of you, Wendell,'” Pierce says with a laugh.
The young actors keeping him inspired
One perk of having The Wire on his resume? Getting to take pride in watching the careers that grew out of it.
Mention Michael B. Jordan — who audiences first met as Wallace, a teen drug dealer with a heart of gold — and Pierce immediately lights up.
Pierce with Michael B. Jordan, Pooch Hall and Glynn Turman in 2015.
(Ethan Miller via Getty Images)
“I knew he was good,” he says of the actor, whose performance in Sinners won him Best Actor at this year’s Oscars. “Actually, the defining moment for me was Fruitvale Station. I said, ‘OK, he’s at a place that he’s going to be doing great work.'”
He’s thrilled to see Jordan thrive. “You could not wish it for a nicer person,” he says. “Michael B. Jordan is everything you would think. Intelligent, handsome, smart. He’s a great person. Kind. One of the kindest people around. He deserves all the attention that he’s receiving.”
They Fight offered Pierce another opportunity to work with Hollywood up-and-comers. Pierce plays Slim, a longtime fixture at the boxing gym who helps guide both the teenage fighters and the adults around them. But rather than feeling like he was passing down wisdom, he says the film’s younger cast often inspired him instead.
“Young actors teach me all the time,” he says.
Working alongside first-time performers also reminded him that children don’t let actors hide behind technique. “You cannot have a false note with a kid, man,” he says. “They will let you know it in a minute because they are so present.”
Why acting is never ‘just entertainment’
Long before The Wire, Broadway or Hollywood, Pierce learned that storytelling could be a form of service. He traces it back to the Free Southern Theater, a New Orleans company founded during the Civil Rights movement that inspired him as a young actor.
“I knew that the work was not just for entertainment, but purposeful,” he says.
He still thinks often about Harry Belafonte, Ossie Davis and Sidney Poitier — artists who viewed their platform as an extension of their work rather than something separate from it. “I have a long legacy and responsibility to the men who passed the baton on to me,” he says.
It’s also why They Fight spoke to him. On the surface, it’s a boxing movie. But at its heart, it’s about second chances, mentorship and helping someone discover what’s possible, themes Pierce says he’s spent his career gravitating toward.
“I’ve always looked for stories that speak to people, speak to your heart, give you something to think about,” he says. “Hopefully after seeing it, [people] go out into the world and act on those values.”
After more than 40 years in Hollywood, that’s still the standard he’s measuring himself against. So when people praise him for using his platform beyond acting, Pierce gently pushes back.
“I don’t see it as an extraordinary feat,” he says. “I say it’s a natural responsibility.”