Fast Chat: 'Treme's' Wendell Pierce gives back

Wendell Pierce has had major roles in two of the most critically acclaimed TV series of recent years.

He played Det. Bunk Moreland on HBO's "The Wire," and is currently starring as trombonist Antoine Batiste in the New Orleans-set "Treme." The 47-year-old NOLA native has also made his mark in films like "Waiting to Exhale," "Get on the Bus" and "Ray," and appears in the indie drama "Night Catches Us," opening Friday. Pierce has also been involved in helping to rebuild Pontchartrain Park, the neighborhood he grew up in, which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Lewis Beale caught up with Pierce by phone during a break in "Treme" production.

In your latest film, you play a 1970s Philly cop involved with some former members of the Black Panthers. How much did you know about the history of the Panthers?

I'm very aware of the history of the Black Panthers. I have family members who were in it, knew their history and how it affected their community. A lot of things came out of the Black Panthers that were adopted later, like the meals before going to school, tutoring after school. It was great to have an opportunity to work on something that showed the human side of the Black Panthers movement. These were young, idealistic Americans who were being abused by their country.

You were on "The Wire" for all five years. The show earned enormous critical acclaim, but was only nominated twice for an Emmy and never won. How come?

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We were not formula TV; it's the politics of Hollywood. We've accepted it, now. I'm on the second show with David Simon, and I'm accustomed to doing unique work, and we know we're not going to get any consideration. On "The Wire" we got the Peabody Award, and I'll take the reward of people all over the world telling me how much they liked the show. And I am happy to be known as Bunk, it's a career-defining role for me. One actor told me "You're so lucky, you had 'The Wire.' " My career can go down the tubes, and I can be in a chicken suit, and if someone messes with me, I can say I was on "The Wire."

How did you get involved in acting?

There was a company here in New Orleans called the Free Southern Theater, and it started as a part of the civil rights movement, and they went around the South doing plays. My parents would come back and tell me about them, and when I got older and did community theater in town, I met some of those people, and they piqued my interest. The activism of the Free Southern Theater made me realize it wasn't a frivolous thing to be an artist.

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You're now in the HBO series "Treme," playing a musician in post-Katrina New Orleans. What is it about the show that attracted you?

It's being truthful and authentic. It's showing you the role of culture in our lives. And as a community, you reflect on who you are, where you want to go. It's where we express our hopes, desires, fears and joys as a community, collectively. But at the same time, it's a continuing showing of the dysfunction of our cities, especially in the wake of a disaster. But it's also showing you the triumphs and failures of individual people, despite the government's failures.

You're a real activist in the city, helping to rebuild neighborhoods by building housing. But you've also said that poor people and blacks are being actively encouraged not to return to their hometown.

Encouragement is not the word. By design, it is made more difficult for poor folks to come back. The only thing they have done is destroy public housing. We know people have the desire to come home. To date, $3 billion of federal money sent to the state hasn't been spent. Money for New Orleans was never directly appropriated to New Orleans, and the state is incompetent.

The Saints won the Super Bowl for the first time last year. Which was the better parade - Mardi Gras, or the Saints victory parade?

The Super Bowl happened in the middle of the Mardi Gras season, so while we were waiting for the Mardi Gras parades, there in the middle was this parade no one ever expected. It was definitely one of the most amazing expressions of human exuberance and joy ever. It was like if your birthday landed on Christmas, and then you got married on Christmas Day, to the love of your life.