22 FT.COM/MAGAZINEOCTOBER 19 /2 02019
ActorWendell Pierce,best
knownfor‘TheWire’,has
beenwowingLondon in
‘Death ofaSalesman’.
HetalkstoHenry Mance
about the powerof
art, politics, prejudice
and personalfailings.
PortraitsbyLola &PaniH
enry,are youleft-handed?”
“Henry,playasolo... ”
“Hey, Henry,haveyou
read Ta-NehisiCoates’ new
book?” “Henry,nowyou’ve
put something in my head.”
“Whenyoucome toNewOrleans,Henry...”
Most famouspeople knowhowto tell
storiesabout themselves.But Wendell Pierce
knows something more–howto wrapyou, the
listener,into the narrative.Evenifyou had never
seen him on stage or screen, youwouldrealise
within minutes that he isafirst-classperformer.
Pierce isbestknown as BunkMorelandfrom
theHBOseriesTheWire–aweary,womanising
detectivewhosemouthcould emit cigarsmoke
and bluntbonhomie simultaneously.“The Bunk
is strictlyashirt-and-tie motherf**ker,”ran one
of his memorable lines.
Pierce is alsoashirt-and-tieaficionado; when
wemeet,hehas asparetie in hispocketfor good
measure.But if therole of Bunkhas definedhis
career,itisfar from the limit of his ambitions.
This month hereturns to theLondon stageas WillyLoman, the lead in Arthur Miller’s
classicDeathof aSalesman.The production,
which premiered at theYoung Vic in the
summer,ishis first UKrole –and the first time
thatLondon has hadablackLoman. Its initial
runreceivedahostoffive-starreviews, including
from the Financial Times.
Seventyyears after the playfirstappeared,
Deathof aSalesmanremainsacrushing critique
of American capitalism.But withablack
anti-hero,italsobecomesatale of racism –
and“howdestructive that is to the spiritofthe
individual”, says Pierce.
So it makesthe play even moredepressing,
Isuggest.Helaughs. “It canbe.[But]
entertainment isaby-productofart.It’snot
thepurpose of art.We’ve come toaplacewhere
it’sanexpectation, ‘I want tobe entertained
by apiece of art,instead of challenged.’”
This is the second thingyourealise about
Wendell Pierce. He is not just charm and delivery
and smartdressing;heistrulyserious.In
Pierce’s vision, art“changespeople’s humanity,
it changesthe air in theroom, it changes▶‘Fameis
obscurity
inwaiting’