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Wendell Pierce (a.k.a. Bunk from 'The Wire') Is Playing B.B. King in a Biopic

The upcoming film is called 'The Thrill Is On'
Wendell Pierce (a.k.a. Bunk from 'The Wire') Is Playing B.B. King in a Biopic
By Brock Thiessen
Published Oct 20, 2020
Wendell Pierce — the actor best known as playing Detective Bunk Moreland in The Wire — has landed himself quite the role. The actor has revealed he will be playing the late B.B. King in a new biopic about the blues legend.

Pierce took to his Twitter to make the announcement, tweeting "We are official. Preparation has begun on a film where I will be honored to play the great, BB King. Humbled."


He then added, "I promised BB King before he died, I will honor him and his creative genius. An American Icon."

The B.B. King biopic is titled The Thrill Is On, and IMDb describes it like this: "A drama centered on the friendship between B.B King and young musician Michael Zanetis."

Zanetis is also serving as co-writer alongside Melora Donoghue, though so far no director has been revealed.

Of course, this wouldn't mark the first time Pierce has played a musician, as he took on the role of jazz player Antoine Batiste in Treme. He didn't, however, land the role of Cleveland Brown in Family Guy.

Stay tuned and see Pierce's tweets below.