Wendell Pierce says the heart of his role in Andscape’s They Fight came from a coach who shaped his life far beyond the football field.
Speaking with Chiefs Wire’s Ed Easton Jr., the award-winning actor said the inspiration behind his character Slim traces back to Coach Mac, McBurnett Knox Jr., from Pontchartrain Park in New Orleans. Pierce said the coach, who has since died, left a lasting mark on him and the neighborhood, where a playground has been named in his honor.
"Coach Mac (McBurnett Knox Jr.) from Pontchartrain Park in New Orleans- my neighborhood; I still live there- and he's gone now. We've named the playground after him. We knew when we were under his tutelage, that he was preparing us for life, not just a particular game or season or championship, he was preparing us for life."
Pierce said Coach Mac’s lessons were never limited to sports. In his telling, the coach used practice and even game situations to push the kids toward something bigger than wins and losses.
"He would tell us in the middle of games, call a timeout, and say, 'What are you doing?" What kind of men are you going to be?
Is that- are you going to- is this what you're going to do with your life? Are you just going to give up?
You're not going to meet the challenge, and we're sitting there going, coaches, it's third and two, what's the play?" said Pierce, "But he was teaching us for life, and so I was thinking of him the entire time I was doing this, and what a tribute he is to everybody who came under his tutelage."
That influence carried into Pierce’s work on They Fight, which is set to be available on Hulu on July 17. The film, based on the 2018 documentary of the same name, follows Walt Manigan, a reformed ex-con trying to rebuild his life so he can be with the mother of his toddler son. His only real opening comes at a youth boxing gym in Washington, D.C., where he coaches a group of teenage boys and eventually watches two best friends square off at the National Championship.
Pierce also opened up about football back home. The New Orleans native has publicly backed the Kansas City Chiefs, but he made clear that his lifelong loyalty belongs to the New Orleans Saints.
"Optimism because of the unknown, right? The unknown.
We now have a team of young talent who get to tell us how much it means to them, right? Here's a classic example of exercising your right of self-determination," said Pierce.
"So, who are you? What kind of player are you going to be?
What kind of team are you going to put together? And so that's what I'm looking forward to.
I'm looking forward to the New Orleans Saints, who said, I'm going to put my mark on this team. This is a new team; the (Drew) Brees years are over.
It's my time, right here, right now; I'm gonna mark my passing on the road. The New Orleans Saints are here, and I'm waiting for those young men to step up and declare themselves."
For Pierce, the connection is clear: whether it’s a movie role or a football team, he’s drawn to the idea of young people being pushed to define themselves and rise to the moment.
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