Jack Ryan a highlight of my career: Wendell Pierce

ACTOR WENDELL PIERCE,

who has worked in some hugely successful TV shows like Suits and The Wire,

believes that Tom Clancy’s

Jack Ryan would be the highlight of his career. The series which goes live on

August 31 on Amazon Prime

Video “simultaneously in over 140 countries is a truly global show and would be high up among shows and movies that I have done so far”, the actor said. “It’s going to be one of the highlights of my career. The quality of the work, the resources that have gone into it, the actors and the writers that are on this and having the platform that Amazon has given us, I think it’s a breakthrough,” Pierce said.

The actor, who plays CIA Agent Jack Ryan’s boss in the show, said it is not just about explosions and action but it is an intellectual thriller which boasts of really fleshed out characters. “There is a balance in the show between action and intellectual drama. So it’s a puzzle that you have to think and put together and then it lends itself to action. And even within the action, you see choices being made,” he said.

Before Jack Ryan, Pierce’s role in Suits as attorney Robert Zane, was a different kind of challenge. “Suits

is a different challenge because it has such a unique language. It’s a thick, verbal acrobatics that you have to do to be able to get those lines out. It takes some effort. “The thing that I want in my career is to be as diverse as possible. And so it’s great to go from Suits to a show like this,” he said.

The thing that I want in my career is to be as diverse as possible.” Wendell Pierce

Learning from the pros

As research for the show, lead actors, including Pierce, spent time with real CIA agents to learn about how the intelligence agency functions and how it affects their personal lives. “I was pleasantly surprised how diverse the agency was and how eclectic, multi-ethnic and polar opposite of some seminal idea of what American CIA officer is. I was intrigued by that and was able to meet one officer in particular who really guided me,” Pierce said. “The character and the officer share the same personality: African-american man who had a career in the agencyand how he deals with personal conflict and keeps his moral compass in line,” he added.