Wendell Pierce

Wendell Pierce

1963-12-08 New Orleans, Louisiana, USA 75 Credits

Biography

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 a...

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Complete Filmography

Highest 2 Lowest

Highest 2 Lowest

2025

as Gabe

Acting

When a titan music mogul, widely known as having the "best ears in the business", is targeted with a ransom plot, he is jammed up in a life-or-death m...

Superman

Superman

2025

as Perry White

5.6
Acting

Superman, a journalist in Metropolis, embarks on a journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent.

Thunderbolts*

Thunderbolts*

2025

as Congressman Gary

7.4
Acting

After finding themselves ensnared in a death trap, seven disillusioned castoffs must embark on a dangerous mission that will force them to confront th...

Becoming Frederick Douglass

Becoming Frederick Douglass

2022

as Frederick Douglass (voice)

6.5
Acting

In Becoming Frederick Douglass, acclaimed director Stanley Nelson and co-director Nicole London bring to life the story of an American icon. Using Dou...

Don't Hang Up

Don't Hang Up

2022

as Chris Daniels

Acting

Follows Chris Daniels, a man who receives a call that his daughter has been kidnapped. The kidnappers demand that he completes a series of different m...

Some Old Black Man

Some Old Black Man

2021

as Calvin Jones

Acting

In the play, Calvin Jones (Pierce), a hip, coolly intellectual African American college professor moves his 82-year-old ailing but doggedly independen...

Between the World and Me

Between the World and Me

2020

as Self

7.9
Acting

Based on Ta-Nehisi Coates’ #1 New York Times bestseller and originally adapted and staged by the Apollo Theater, this special combines elements of tha...

Clemency

Clemency

2019

as Jonathan Williams

6.3
Acting

Years of carrying out death row executions have taken a toll on prison warden Bernadine Williams. As she prepares to execute another inmate, Bernadine...

Burning Cane

Burning Cane

2019

as Reverend Tillman

5.7
Acting

Set among the cane fields of rural Louisiana, Burning Cane follows a deeply religious mother struggling to reconcile her convictions of faith with the...

Burning Cane

Burning Cane

2019

Producer

5.7
Producing

Set among the cane fields of rural Louisiana, Burning Cane follows a deeply religious mother struggling to reconcile her convictions of faith with the...

Piercing

Piercing

2019

as The Doctor

5.7
Acting

After kissing his wife and baby goodbye for a seemingly normal business trip, Reed checks himself into a hotel room to accomplish something he’s alway...

27 Years: The Exoneration of Valentino Dixon

27 Years: The Exoneration of Valentino Dixon

2018

as Narrator (voice)

Acting

Valentino Dixon is a talented artist that used art to keep his sanity while in prison, often drawing up to ten hours a day after he was wrongfully con...

One Last Thing

One Last Thing

2018

as Dylan

6.5
Acting

Dylan Derringer, a lonely dentist in Florida, is confronted by a figure from the past bringing news that sends him on an eventful and ultimately life-...

Rodents of Unusual Size

Rodents of Unusual Size

2017

as Narrator (voice)

7.6
Acting

After decades of hurricanes and oil spills, Louisiana faces a new threat - hordes of monstrous 20 pound swamp rats. Known as "nutria", these invasive ...

The Forever Tree

The Forever Tree

2017

as Doctor Willow

2.0
Acting

In 1920, a young African-American woman sets off to Africa to find a tree that promises eternal life.

Bad Moms

Bad Moms

2016

as Principal Daryl Burr

6.5
Acting

When three overworked and under-appreciated moms are pushed beyond their limits, they ditch their conventional responsibilities for a jolt of long ove...

Confirmation

Confirmation

2016

as Clarence Thomas

6.9
Acting

Judge Clarence Thomas' nomination to the United States' Supreme Court is called into question when former colleague, Anita Hill, testifies that he had...

Grease Live

Grease Live

2016

as Coach Calhoun

7.0
Acting

After enjoying a holiday romance, high school students Danny and Sandy are unexpectedly reunited when she transfers to Rydell High, where she must con...

The Runner

The Runner

2015

as Frank Legrand

4.8
Acting

In the aftermath of the BP oil spill, an idealistic but imperfect New Orleans politician (Nicolas Cage) finds his plans of restoration unraveling as h...

The Gift

The Gift

2015

as Detective Mills

6.7
Acting

Simon and Robyn are a young married couple whose life is going as planned until a chance run-in with Simon's high school acquaintance sends their worl...

Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band

Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band

2015

as Andy Kirk (voice)

8.0
Acting

Jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams was a genius ahead of her time. From child prodigy to "Boogie-Woogie Queen" to groundbreaking composer to mentoring som...

Selma

Selma

2014

as Rev. Hosea Williams

7.4
Acting

"Selma," as in Alabama, the place where segregation in the South was at its worst, leading to a march that ended in violence, forcing a famous stateme...

Elsa & Fred

Elsa & Fred

2014

as Armande

6.0
Acting

After his daughter persuades him to move into a new apartment, aged widower Fred strikes up a friendship with his eccentric 74-year-old neighbour Elsa...

Foreclosure

Foreclosure

2014

as Virgil

Acting

The story of a broken family striving to stay together while a curse and the ghosts of a haunted house try to tear them apart.

Runaway Hearts

Runaway Hearts

2014

as Paul

7.0
Acting

Two kids on the run from a scary life come across two adults running away from their past.

Four

Four

2013

as Joe

5.6
Acting

Adapted from a stage play by Christopher Shinn, the debut feature from Joshua Sanchez is a provocative rumination on race and sexuality set on a swelt...

Möbius

Möbius

2013

as Bob

5.7
Acting

An FSB officer falls in love with his agent, an American woman who works as a trader in a Russian bank.

Parker

Parker

2013

as Carlson

6.1
Acting

A thief with a unique code of professional ethics is double-crossed by his crew and left for dead. Assuming a new disguise and forming an unlikely all...

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2

2012

as J. Jenks

6.5
Acting

After the birth of Renesmee, the Cullens gather other vampire clans in order to protect the child from a false allegation that puts the family in fron...

Lay the Favorite

Lay the Favorite

2012

as Dave the Rave

5.2
Acting

A former stripper's talent with numbers lands her a job with a professional gambler who runs a sports book in Las Vegas.

Horrible Bosses

Horrible Bosses

2011

as Detective Hagan

6.6
Acting

For Nick, Kurt and Dale, the only thing that would make the daily grind more tolerable would be to grind their intolerable bosses into dust. Quitting ...

The Mortician

The Mortician

2011

as Clinger

5.1
Acting

Alienated and cold, The Mortician (Method Man) processes the corpses with steely disregard. He is lonely and isolated. He is introduced to his new emp...

A Plea for Modernism

A Plea for Modernism

2011

as Narrator (voice)

Acting

Phillis Wheatley Elementary School was a significant landmark in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, serving as an important educational institutio...

Night Catches Us

Night Catches Us

2010

as David Gordon

5.2
Acting

After growing up during the tumultuous 1960s, ex-Black Panther Marcus returns to his home in Philadelphia in 1976 and reconnects with Pat, the widow o...

Love Ranch

Love Ranch

2010

as Naasih Mohammed

5.4
Acting

Story of a couple that starts the first legal brothel in Nevada and a boxer they own a piece of.

New Orleans: A Living Museum of Music

New Orleans: A Living Museum of Music

2010

as Narrator (voice)

Acting

an intimate look at the traditions associated with New Orleans’ music and the preservation of those traditions through the work of local musicians and...

Beyond All Boundaries

Beyond All Boundaries

2009

as Sgt. Thomas McPhatter

6.8
Acting

A visual, 4-D experience of the battles of World War II featuring stories, archival footage and advanced special effects.

The Wire: The Last Word

The Wire: The Last Word

2007

as Self

1.5
Acting

A documentary exploring the role of the media in relation to the acclaimed series The Wire.

The Wire Odyssey

The Wire Odyssey

2007

as Self

6.6
Acting

A retrospective documentary of the first four seasons of the acclaimed series The Wire.

2000: Bunk and McNulty

2000: Bunk and McNulty

2007

as Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland

Acting

Det. Moreland does not like his new partner, McNulty, until they find they have a common hobby.

Tapping the Wire

Tapping the Wire

2007

as Self

7.3
Acting

Long-time Wire fan Charlie Brooker takes a journey to the mean streets of Baltimore to meet the cast and crew of the series, and undertakes a mission ...

Pariah

Pariah

2007

as Arthur

1.0
Acting

A lesbian teenager unsuccessfully juggles multiple identities to avoid rejection from her friends and family. Mounting pressure from home, school, and...

Life Support

Life Support

2007

as Slick

5.6
Acting

The true-life story of a mother who overcame an addiction to crack and became a positive role model and an AIDS activist in the black community.

I Think I Love My Wife

I Think I Love My Wife

2007

as Sean

5.4
Acting

Richard Cooper is a married man and father of two who is just plain bored with married life. Not getting any sex from his wife, he resorts to ogling r...

Stay Alive

Stay Alive

2006

as Detective Thibodeaux

5.8
Acting

After the brutal death of a friend, a group of friends find themselves in possession of a video-game called "Stay Alive," a blood-curdling true story ...

Ray

Ray

2004

as Wilbur Brassfield

7.5
Acting

Born on a sharecropping plantation in Northern Florida, Ray Charles went blind at seven. Inspired by a fiercely independent mom who insisted he make h...

Land of Plenty

Land of Plenty

2004

as Henry

6.2
Acting

After living abroad, Lana returns to the United States, and finds that her uncle is a reclusive vagabond with psychic wounds from the Vietnam War.

A Hole in One

A Hole in One

2004

as Dan

4.5
Acting

A gangster makes an employee pose as a doctor to prevent his troubled girlfriend from getting a lobotomy.

The Fighting Temptations

The Fighting Temptations

2003

as Reverend Lewis

5.8
Acting

Darrin Hill, a slick-talking but down-on- his-luck NYC advertising exec, returns to his hometown in Georgia to claim the inheritance his aunt left him...

Brown Sugar

Brown Sugar

2002

as Simon

6.7
Acting

Sidney and Dre can attribute their lifelong friendship and the launch of their careers to one single childhood instant... witnessing the birth of hip-...

The Gilded Six Bits

The Gilded Six Bits

2001

as Otis D. Slimmons

Acting

The lives of a loving husband and wife collide with that of a wealthy hustler.

Abilene

Abilene

1999

as Reverend Tillis

Acting

When he finds out that his estranged brother is dying, a proud but stubborn old man decides to drive in his lawnmower all the way to the far away hosp...

The 24 Hour Woman

The 24 Hour Woman

1999

as Roy Labelle

3.0
Acting

Grace tries to be the perfect mother and TV producer but finds trouble in juggling both.

Bulworth

Bulworth

1998

as Fred

6.3
Acting

A suicidally disillusioned liberal politician puts a contract out on himself and takes the opportunity to be bluntly honest with his voters by affecti...

The Advocate's Devil

The Advocate's Devil

1997

as Justin

5.7
Acting

A charismatic basketball star (Holt McCallany) is accused of rape. A lawyer (Ken Olin) in need of a big win is brought in to get the star off. The law...

Sleepers

Sleepers

1996

as Little Caesar

7.6
Acting

Two gangsters seek revenge on the state jail worker who during their stay at a youth prison sexually abused them. A sensational court hearing takes pl...

Get on the Bus

Get on the Bus

1996

as Wendell

6.4
Acting

Several Black men take a cross-country bus trip to attend the Million Man March in Washington, DC in 1995. On the bus are an eclectic set of character...

Never Give Up: The Jimmy V Story

Never Give Up: The Jimmy V Story

1996

as John Saunders

Acting

The biography of Jimmy Valvano, American sports reporter and basketball coach, who died of cancer in 1993.

Waiting to Exhale

Waiting to Exhale

1995

as Michael

6.3
Acting

Cheated on, mistreated and stepped on, the women are holding their breath, waiting for the elusive "good man" to break a string of less-than-stellar l...

Hackers

Hackers

1995

as S.S. Agent Richard Gill

6.4
Acting

Along with his new friends, a teenager who was arrested by the US Secret Service and banned from using a computer for writing a computer virus discove...

Bye Bye Love

Bye Bye Love

1995

as Hector

5.9
Acting

With varying degrees of success, recently divorced friends Dave, Vic and Donny are trying to move on with their lives. Vic feels vilified by his ex-wi...

It Could Happen to You

It Could Happen to You

1994

as Bo Williams

6.7
Acting

Charlie Lang is a simple, kindhearted New York City cop. When he realizes he has no money to tip waitress Yvonne Biasi, Lang offers her half the winni...

Strapped

Strapped

1993

as District Attorney

5.7
Acting

Ex-con attempting to go straight runs across serious problems. His girlfriend gets arrested for dealing crack to an undercover police officer. In a de...

Manhattan Murder Mystery

Manhattan Murder Mystery

1993

as Policeman

7.3
Acting

A middle-aged couple suspects foul play when their neighbor's wife suddenly drops dead.

Malcolm X

Malcolm X

1992

as Ben Thomas

7.5
Acting

A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the '50s, he b...

Unnatural Pursuits

Unnatural Pursuits

1992

as Cabbie

Acting

An English playwright sacrifices his health waiting for his play's make-or-break opening on Broadway.

A Matter of Degrees

1991

as Wells Dennard

3.5
Acting

Max can't face his yuppie future. Graduation's only weeks away and he's having second thoughts. Inspired by the campus radio station, he decides to ge...

A Rage in Harlem

A Rage in Harlem

1991

as Louis

5.5
Acting

A beautiful black gangster's moll flees to Harlem with a trunkload of gold after a shootout, unaware that the rest of the gang, and a few other unsavo...

The 10 Million Dollar Getaway

1991

as Parnell "Stacks" Edwards

5.3
Acting

Jimmy Burke and his friends steal 10 million from the Lufthansa office in New York. The FBI has no idea who the thieves are until Burke girlfriend giv...

Family Business

Family Business

1989

as Prosecutor

5.7
Acting

Jessie is an aging career criminal who has been in more jails, fights, schemes, and lineups than just about anyone else. His son Vito, while currently...

Casualties of War

Casualties of War

1989

as MacIntire

7.2
Acting

During the Vietnam War, a soldier finds himself the outsider of his own squad when they unnecessarily kidnap a female villager.

The Money Pit

The Money Pit

1986

as Paramedic

6.5
Acting

After being evicted from their Manhattan apartment, a couple buy what looks like the home of their dreams—only to find themselves saddled with a bank-...

King of the South

N/A

Acting

Upcoming biopic of Master P, the hip-hop mogul, CEO, and founder of No Limit Records.

The Thrill Is On

The Thrill Is On

N/A

as B.B. King

Acting

A drama centered on the friendship between B.B King and young musician Michael Zanetis.

Untitled Jack Ryan Film

N/A

as James Greer

Acting

Described as the next evolutionary step to the Amazon series of the same name.