Wendell pierce Superstar scene-stealer

AFTER NEARLY 40 YEARS ONSCREEN, THE BELOVED ACTOR AND TOM CLANCY'S JACK RYAN STAR IS ON A HOT STREAK-AND HE'S JUST GETTING WARMED UP

- JP MANGALINDAN

Wendell Pierce’s commanding baritone booms with enthusiasm as he discusses Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan. The Prime Video action series is entering its final season on June 30 , and the actor is keen to talk about what he learned from a real-life secret agent while preparing to play tough CIA operative James Greer. “They’re students of human behavior,” he says over Zoom from his home in New York City. “I saw that same quality in me as an actor.”

Since charming audiences as Lela Rochon’s over-eager lover in the 1995 romantic comedy Waiting to Exhale, the Louisiana native, 59, has remained a stalwart presence in movies, TV and theater. As the curmudgeon Det. William “Bunk” Moreland on HBO’s The Wire from 2002 to 2008, he invited viewers into the gritty world of the Baltimore Police Department’s Homicide Unit. In the most recent Broadway revival of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Pierce made history as the first Black actor to play tortured traveling salesman Willy Loman on Broadway—and earned a Tony nomination for his performance. “ This feels like another kismet moment of a lot of good work coming together at the same time,” he says with a smile. And yet the actor continues to reach for new dreams.