Wendell Pierce

Acting

Wendell Pierce

Born December 8, 1963New Orleans, Louisiana, USA121 credits

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

Filmography

Superman
2025Superman
as Perry WhiteMovie
Thunderbolts*
2025Thunderbolts*
as Congressman GaryMovie
Elsbeth
2024Elsbeth
as C.W. WagnerTV
Becoming Frederick Douglass
2022Becoming Frederick Douglass
as Frederick Douglass (voice)Movie
Sherri
2022Sherri
as Self - GuestTV
Don't Hang Up
2022Don't Hang Up
as Chris DanielsMovie
The Watch
2021The Watch
as Death (voice)TV
Clemency
2019Clemency
as Jonathan WilliamsMovie
Harley Quinn
2019Harley Quinn
as Lex Luthor (voice)TV
Tamron Hall
2019Tamron Hall
as Self - GuestTV
Burning Cane
2019Burning Cane
as Reverend TillmanMovie
Piercing
2019Piercing
as The DoctorMovie
One Last Thing
2018One Last Thing
as DylanMovie
Rodents of Unusual Size
2017Rodents of Unusual Size
as Narrator (voice)Movie
The Forever Tree
2017The Forever Tree
as Doctor WillowMovie
Bad Moms
2016Bad Moms
as Principal Daryl BurrMovie
Confirmation
2016Confirmation
as Clarence ThomasMovie
Grease Live
2016Grease Live
as Coach CalhounMovie
The Runner
2015The Runner
as Frank LegrandMovie
The Gift
2015The Gift
as Detective MillsMovie
Runaway Hearts
2015Runaway Hearts
as PaulMovie
Selma
2014Selma
as Rev. Hosea WilliamsMovie
Elsa & Fred
2014Elsa & Fred
as ArmandeMovie
Foreclosure
2014Foreclosure
as VirgilMovie
Chicago P.D.
2014Chicago P.D.
as Ray PriceTV
Four
2013Four
as JoeMovie
Ray Donovan
2013Ray Donovan
as Ronald KeithTV
Möbius
2013Möbius
as BobMovie
Parker
2013Parker
as CarlsonMovie
Lay the Favorite
2012Lay the Favorite
as Dave the RaveMovie
Horrible Bosses
2011Horrible Bosses
as Detective HaganMovie
Suits
2011Suits
as Robert ZaneTV
The Mortician
2011The Mortician
as ClingerMovie
A Plea for Modernism
2011A Plea for Modernism
as Narrator (voice)Movie
Night Catches Us
2010Night Catches Us
as David GordonMovie
Love Ranch
2010Love Ranch
as Naasih MohammedMovie
Treme
2010Treme
as Antoine BatisteTV
Beyond All Boundaries
2009Beyond All Boundaries
as Sgt. Thomas McPhatterMovie
Archer
2009Archer
as Verl (voice)TV
Drop Dead Diva
2009Drop Dead Diva
as Neal DavidTV
Hawthorne
2009Hawthorne
as Dr. Michael SchillingTV
Fear Itself
2008Fear Itself
as Wiilbur OrwellTV
In Plain Sight
2008In Plain Sight
as Dr. Warren McBride / Warren MorrisTV
2000: Bunk and McNulty
20072000: Bunk and McNulty
as Det. William 'Bunk' MorelandMovie
Pariah
2007Pariah
as ArthurMovie
Life Support
2007Life Support
as SlickMovie
Stay Alive
2006Stay Alive
as Detective ThibodeauxMovie
Close to Home
2005Close to Home
as Sam CarterTV
Numb3rs
2005Numb3rs
as William BradfordTV
Ray
2004Ray
as Wilbur BrassfieldMovie
Land of Plenty
2004Land of Plenty
as HenryMovie
The Fighting Temptations
2003The Fighting Temptations
as Reverend LewisMovie
Brown Sugar
2002Brown Sugar
as SimonMovie
The Wire
2002The Wire
as Bunk MorelandTV
My Wife and Kids
2001My Wife and Kids
as Dr. BoucherTV
The Gilded Six Bits
2001The Gilded Six Bits
as Otis D. SlimmonsMovie
The Weber Show
2000The Weber Show
as Wendell SimmsTV
Girlfriends
2000Girlfriends
as Anthony JacksonTV
Third Watch
1999Third Watch
as Officer Conrad 'Candyman' JonesTV
Judging Amy
1999Judging Amy
as Harry BentonTV
Abilene
1999Abilene
as Reverend TillisMovie
The 24 Hour Woman
1999The 24 Hour Woman
as Roy LabelleMovie
Bulworth
1998Bulworth
as FredMovie
Sleepers
1996Sleepers
as Little CaesarMovie
Get on the Bus
1996Get on the Bus
as Wendell PerryMovie
M
1996Moloney
as Calvin PattersonTV
Waiting to Exhale
1995Waiting to Exhale
as MichaelMovie
Hackers
1995Hackers
as S.S. Agent Richard GillMovie
Bye Bye Love
1995Bye Bye Love
as HectorMovie
It Could Happen to You
1994It Could Happen to You
as Bo WilliamsMovie
Strapped
1993Strapped
as District AttorneyMovie
Malcolm X
1992Malcolm X
as Ben ThomasMovie
A
1991A Matter of Degrees
as Wells DennardMovie
T
1991The 10 Million Dollar Getaway
as Parnell "Stacks" EdwardsMovie
Law & Order
1990Law & Order
as Roger PorterTV
Capital News
1990Capital News
as Conrad WhiteTV
Family Business
1989Family Business
as ProsecutorMovie
Casualties of War
1989Casualties of War
as MacIntireMovie
The Money Pit
1986The Money Pit
as ParamedicMovie
The Equalizer
1985The Equalizer
as Dr. WolffTV
The Thrill Is On
The Thrill Is On
as B.B. KingMovie
T
They Fight
as SlimMovie