Superman’s Wendell Pierce Breaks Silence on Playing Perry White

Superman is currently in production, bringing to life James Gunn’s massive vision for the iconic DC hero. A number of actors are confirmed to be part of Superman‘s ensemble, including The Wire and Jack Ryan alum Wendell Pierce, who has been cast as Perry White. During a recent appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers, Pierce spoke about the role, and revealed his previous experience with Perry’s lore in the comics.

“I’m looking forward to this,” Pierce revealed. “I never grew up reading comics, so I relied on my friends to tell me about it. I’m excited about this, you know.”

Who Is Perry White?

Originally created for The Adventures of Superman radio serials, Perry White made his comic debut in 1940’s Superman #7. He is regularly portrayed as the editor-in-chief at The Daily Planet, becoming a boss and ally to Clark, Lois, and Jimmy Olsen. Over the years, Perry has remained a stable part of Superman’s supporting cast, and has learned and unlearned Clark’s secret identity multiple times over. He has become iconic for his dislike of being called “Chief”, as well as his catchphrase “Great Caesar’s ghost!”

Pierce’s portrayal is just the latest example of Perry White appearing onscreen, including Jackie Cooper in Superman: The Movie, Laurence Fishburne in the DC Extended Universe, Lane Smith on Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Michael McKean on Smallville, Paul Jarrett on Superman & Lois, and Darrell Brown on My Adventures with Superman.

What Is Superman About?

Per DC Studios, Superman tells the story of Superman’s journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent of Smallville, Kansas. He is the embodiment of truth, justice and a better tomorrow, guided by human kindness in a world that sees kindness as old-fashioned. 

“We got James Gunn and Peter (Safran) working very hard on DC, which is going to be a very big growth driver for this company,” Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav explained last year. “We are very bullish on DC. The Superman script first draft is done. Gunn is on a mission from god. It is a really good moment to prove out on DC what we got and how strong it is globally for long-term sustainable growth.”

Who Will Star in Superman?

Superman will also star David Corenswet as Clark Kent / Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher, Terence Rosemore as Otis, María Gabriela de Faría as Angela Spica / The Engineer, Isabela Merced as Kendra Saunders / Hawkgirl, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, Edi Gathegi as Michael Holt / Mr. Terrific, and Anthony Carrigan as Rex Mason / Metamorpho.

“We’ve been having a lot of great conversations, David and I, with James Gunn, the director,” Brosnahan revealed in a recent interview. “We’ve been talking a lot about where this project fits into the canon of the Supermans that we know. So hopefully, this’ll be… we’ll be putting our own stamp on things.”