Wendell Pierce
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Wendell Edward Pierce (born December 8, 1963) is an American actor and businessman. Having trained at Juilliard School, Pierce rose to prominence as a character actor portraying roles on both stage and screen. He first gained recognition portraying the role of Detective Bunk Moreland in the acclaimed HBO drama series The Wire from 2002 to 2008. His other notable television roles include the trombonist Antoine Batiste in Treme (2010–2013), James Greer in Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan (2018–2023), the attorney Robert Zane in Suits (2013–2019), and Clarence Thomas in Confirmation (2016). He earned Independent Spirit Awards nominations for his film roles in Four (2012) and Burning Cane (2019), on which he also served as a producer. Other notable film roles include Malcolm X (1992), Waiting to Exhale (1995), Ray (2004), Selma (2014), The Gift (2015), and Clemency (2019). Pierce made his Broadway debut in John Pielmeier's 1985 play The Boys of Winter, followed by Caryl Churchill's Serious Money in 1988. As a theatrical producer, he earned a Tony Award for Best Play nomination for August Wilson's Radio Golf (2007), then won for Bruce Norris's Clybourne Park (2012). He performed the lead role of Willy Loman in the revival of Death of a Salesman on the West End in London in 2019 and on Broadway in New York in 2022, for which he earned Laurence Olivier Award and Tony Award nominations. Description above from the Wikipedia article Wendell Pierce, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known for
Credits
Thunderbolts* (2025)
as Congressman Gary
Superman (2025)
as Perry White
Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Ghost War (2026)
as James Greer
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 (2012)
as J. Jenks
Highest 2 Lowest (2025)
as Gabe
Horrible Bosses (2011)
as Detective Hagan
Sleepers (1996)
as Little Caesar
Hackers (1995)
as S.S. Agent Richard Gill
Bad Moms (2016)
as Principal Burr
The Money Pit (1986)
as Paramedic
The Gift (2015)
as Detective Mills
Parker (2013)
as Carlson
Casualties of War (1989)
as MacIntire
Ray (2004)
as Wilbur Brassfield
Malcolm X (1992)
as Ben Thomas
It Could Happen to You (1994)
as Bo Williams
Waiting to Exhale (1995)
as Michael
They Fight (2026)
as Slim
I Think I Love My Wife (2007)
as Sean
Stay Alive (2006)
as Detective Thibodeaux
Lay the Favorite (2012)
as Dave the Rave
Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993)
as Policeman
Selma (2014)
as Rev. Hosea Williams
Bulworth (1998)
as Fred
Land of Plenty (2004)
as Henry
The Runner (2015)
as Frank Legrand
Family Business (1989)
as Prosecutor
A Rage in Harlem (1991)
as Louis
Get on the Bus (1996)
as Wendell Perry
Confirmation (2016)
as Clarence Thomas
Grease Live (2016)
as Coach Calhoun
Becoming Frederick Douglass (2022)
as Frederick Douglass (voice)
The Fighting Temptations (2003)
as Reverend Lewis
Burning Cane (2019)
as Reverend Tillman
Elsa & Fred (2014)
as Armande
Brown Sugar (2002)
as Simon
Möbius (2013)
as Bob
The Wire: The Last Word (2007)
as Self
Runaway Hearts (2015)
as Paul
Love Ranch (2010)
as Naasih Mohammed
Between the World and Me (2020)
as Self
Bye Bye Love (1995)
as Hector
Beyond All Boundaries (2009)
as Sgt. Thomas McPhatter
Clemency (2019)
as Jonathan Williams
One Last Thing (2018)
as Dylan
Pariah (2007)
as Arthur
The Advocate's Devil (1997)
as Justin
The 24 Hour Woman (1999)
as Roy Labelle
The Mortician (2011)
as Clinger
Don't Hang Up (2022)
as Chris Daniels
The Wire Odyssey (2007)
as Self
Night Catches Us (2010)
as David Gordon
The 10 Million Dollar Getaway (1991)
as Parnell "Stacks" Edwards
Life Support (2007)
as Slick
Jabari’s People (—)
Actor
Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Affair (—)
as Detective Marcus Hill
A Matter of Degrees (1991)
as Wells Dennard
The Gilded Six Bits (2001)
as Otis D. Slimmons
Never Give Up: The Jimmy V Story (1996)
as John Saunders
New Orleans: A Living Museum of Music (2010)
as Narrator (voice)
Piercing (2019)
as The Doctor
Foreclosure (2014)
as Virgil
A Hole in One (2004)
as Dan
Strapped (1993)
as District Attorney
Something with Bite (2009)
as Wilbur Orwell
Four (2013)
as Joe
Rodents of Unusual Size (2017)
as Narrator (voice)
Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band (2015)
as Andy Kirk (voice)
2000: Bunk and McNulty (2007)
as Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland
Tapping the Wire (2007)
as Self
The Forever Tree (2017)
as Doctor Willow
King of the South (—)
Actor
Unnatural Pursuits (1992)
as Cabbie
Abilene (1999)
as Reverend Tillis
27 Years: The Exoneration of Valentino Dixon (2018)
as Narrator (voice)
The Thrill Is On (—)
as B.B. King
A Plea for Modernism (2011)
as Narrator (voice)