Top 66 Quotes & Sayings by Wendell Pierce
Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American actor Wendell Pierce.
Last updated on December 3, 2024.
We always see abhorrent behavior and say why, but then we get mad when somebody tries to answer.
Be your true self. Because if you're not, there are consequences to be paid.
I would love to do an anthology show based on the character of Jesse B. Semple that Langston Hughes wrote about. He's sort of a Forrest Gump character in the midst of 20th century Harlem.
Culture is the intersection of people and life itself. It's how we deal with life, love, death, birth, disappointment... all of that is expressed in culture.
In 1974, when the city of Boston was desegregating its schools, I watched the news with my dad and saw the police escorts in riot gear, the protesters screaming at the buses, small frightened faces in their windows.
And that's what art is, a form in which people can reflect on who we are as human beings and come to some understanding of this journey we are on.
New Orleans, more than many places I know, actually tangibly lives its culture. It's not just a residual of life; it's a part of life. Music is at every major milestone of our life: birth, marriage, death. It's our culture.
When a sports team is doing well in a city that's going through tough times like New Orleans, like Detroit, it bolsters this real sentiment of 'we can get through this.' And when you have that sentiment, it becomes more than feelings: It's transported into action.
One of the great things my grandparents and grandparents taught me was, there are those who don't have your best interests at heart.
I just know that 'Treme' broke ground when it comes to music and film on television.
The role of culture is that it's the form through which we as a society reflect on who we are, where we've been, where we hope to be.
In our house, my dad had a chair. It was a Barcalounger, big and comfortable. If we missed him or wanted comfort when he wasn't home, we'd just climb into the chair and let it envelop us.
Ultimately, I would love to do 'The Emperor of Ocean Park' by Stephen Carter.
The world, post-Katrina, was a hard time for my city. The hardest time. For people who didn't live through it, no words can fully express the pain, the rage, the grief, and the futility we New Orleanians felt. For the people who did, words seemed like a feeble protest against a relentless night without end.
My dad prepared me for the worst of times while also enabling me to succeed in the best. He taught me to confront the insidiousness of racism head on, no matter what the ramification, so it will not fester. Defeat it and get past it. That was The Talk. Nothing scared me after that.
I played trumpet for about two weeks. Sixth grade. And I didn't practice. Maybe a little longer than two weeks, but I didn't practice and I was faking it.
One of the real worries I had before the first season of 'Treme' aired was that, man, people in New Orleans really hold movie and television shows up to a high standard in how they depict the city.
The NFL is such a large, multibillion dollar enterprise with fan loyalty because they have provided not only entertainment for sports fans, but memories, good memories, family memories to these fans, that can only bring about good will.
I tell people all the time: get some training and become a student of your craft.
The social justice movement of the 21st century is economic development.
A lot of cats in New Orleans, very soulful, very soulful musicians and they assume that they're singers. And they just make that assumption. And so when there's a little intonation problem, people are very forgiving of them because they heard how soulful they play.
I consider myself a journeyman actor, and I pride myself and look forward to keeping my career choices as diverse as possible because it challenges me as an actor.
It strengthens the acting muscles to tap into other parts of yourself. When you can accomplish something that's unexpected, for you as well as the audience, that's really important. It's also very important if you want people considering you for other projects to broaden their view of you.
My mother was a teacher for 40 years. She was part of the United Teachers of New Orleans.
Coming out of school, sometimes people can be theater snobs. I only wanted to do theater, highbrow stuff. But what I learned very quickly is there can be good material in every genre.
I would love to see a real story about Fred Hampton.
The power of a sports team in a community it's almost indescribable.
Gregory Hines was the most talented man I've ever met or seen. Gregory Hines is one of those people that whenever he talked to you, you felt like you were the center of the universe.
'The Wire' really is an American classic, and I think that's something to be very proud of.
Juilliard gave me the ability to go and do classical, contemporary, comedy, drama, everything.
My father was so against me becoming an actor.
Jon Voight is a consummate American actor.
I worked at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, lived there for three years, and lived in Baltimore for 12 years.
What thoughts are to the individual, art is to the community as a whole. That's where you reflect on who you are, who you hope to be, what you've gone through, and where you hope to go.
I have so much love for art.
I'm a multitasker, and I kind of like it that way.
David Simon is a brilliant writer, brilliant at being able to take what is ordinary and make it extraordinary.
The key, I always thought, to my career would be diversity - a diversity of not only the type of work that you do but the mediums.
It was really great to also see the response that people were having to 'Treme' 'cause you're in a vacuum when you're on a TV show. You see the response online, you read about it and all of that, but actually to be live and have that many thousands of fans come out, it's really wonderful.
I trained at Juilliard so that I could do all kinds of genres, so that's what I'm trained to do.
I went to Beijing for the Olympics and was literally right across the track from Usain Bolt. And when he gets to full stride, for every two steps the other guy's taking, he's just taking one.
Great art, the more specific you are, the more universal it becomes, and that's the thing that I loved about 'The Wire.'
At Julliard we had some voice classes. It was really just so you could carry a tune. It always just helps with your speaking voice also, when you connect your diaphragm and your breath.
Whenever I go someplace I always buy something, collect something, to help me remember the trip. So I guess I collect mementos from my many travels.
I understand that we should never lose our right to be offended, so I accept it. But for me it was always a study of human behavior because if we just demonize it, it becomes unreal.
We don't eat to live, we live to eat because that's a part of the creativity of the day.
I always wanted to be a journeyman actor. I wanted to be able to do comedy and drama, classical and contemporary. I like to do film and theater. And I pride myself on that diversity of being a journeyman actor.
Our thoughts are to the individual as our art is to the community.
Art imitating life and life imitating art, and it's beyond the job - it will always be a marked period in my life.
The whole idea of jazz came about was the interpretation of the human dialogue, trading fours. When someone's soloing and someone picks up the solo and plays it back at 'em, it was the imitation of the human dialogue. It was how people spoke, through music.
That is the heart and soul of the American dream, homeownership, the idea of being able to buy a house and start to build your family.
Culture is the intersection between people and dealing with the journey of life itself. How to deal with life, how a people deals with life is literally manifested in its culture, in its food, in its music, in its art, in the way you dance, the way you communicate.
Culture is the intersection of people and life itself. Its how we deal with life, love, death, birth, disappointment... all of that is expressed in culture.
One of the richest countries in the history of the world having communities where people have to go over half an hour to get to fresh produce and food is unacceptable.
We always see abhorrent behavior and say why, but then we get mad when somebody tries to answer. Just to answer the question why does not say I'm validating behavior. I'm just saying, if we're going to be a student of human behavior, be a true student.
There's no greater honor, as an actor, to be a part of a project that changes lives, and awakens and enlightens and entertains.
Your actions are not in a vacuum. They impact other people. It may be in a way that's less obvious than in mainstream movies, but it comes to an understanding of who those people are. It also leaves it open to interpretation. And that's what art is, a form in which people can reflect on who we are as human beings and come to some understanding of this journey we are on.
Stories work, if they have a beginning, middle and end.
People forget that art is not just a piece of entertainment. It is the place where we collectively declare our values and then act on them. That's one of the most powerful things we have as a community: our culture and our art. And it's the intersection between life and how people deal with life. It's the most important thing we do.
I'm so thankful when I have a job. I would say the worst job I ever had was the one I quit after the first night. I was an overnight restaurant janitor. And it wasn't because of the job. We had to do four restaurants in the night, overnight. But I was working with a den of thieves. I just quit the next day.
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