Jeffrey Wright stepped firmly into the spotlight when his Tony, Golden Globe, and Emmy winning role as Belize in Angels in America took Broadway and HBO by storm. Now, he’s starring in big-budget superhero films while also furthering his craft through smaller, more thought-provoking features. He’s no longer just a familiar face from throwbacks such as The Manchurian Candidate and The Hunger Games.
In celebration of his recent entry into the DC Universe in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, here’s a closer look at Wright’s finest on-screen efforts to date. As evidenced below, he has worked with some of the most acclaimed filmmakers in Hollywood. An honorable mention for this list might be his starring turn in Netflix’s Hold the Dark, a twisted Christmas movie written and directed by visionary auteur Jeremy Saulnier. Below are some perhaps edgier roles that allowed Wright a broader range with each performance.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
5 Lt. James Gordon — The Batman (2022)
Warner Bros. Pictures
The Batman has proven to be a smash hit at the box office with a total haul of $128.5 million, the second-highest opening of any film during the pandemic era behind only Spider-Man: No Way Home. This follows Friday’s $57 million haul, which included $21.6 million in previews and fan screenings in IMAX theaters in the days before. There had been some concerns at Warner Bros. that the nearly three-hour runtime and the higher ticket prices would deter turnout, but that is clearly not the case.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
Giving us a taste of the relationship between Batman and Gordon, a clip had been released before The Batman’s opening showing The Dark Knight discussing his suspicions over some members of Gordon’s Gotham P.D. colleagues — colleagues whom Batman believes may be working for The Penguin. After a whispered chat, The Batman suddenly punches Gordon to the ground before fleeing from the rest of the cops.
The punch was filled with nothing but love and respect, however. In the moments leading up to the blow, Jeffrey Wright’s Gordon is pretending, in front of his colleagues, to be confronting Batman about his controversial vigilante tactics. In actuality, Gordon is whispering to the Caped Crusader a plan on how he can escape the police station without being caught by the hostile officers giving them the death stare. It’s a fun dynamic that was also effectively highlighted during Christopher Nolan’s past films between Gary Oldman’s Gordon and Christian Bale’s Batman. In fact, Wright recently took to Instagram to share a throwback photo of himself and Oldman in celebration of stepping into the role.
4 Winston — Broken Flowers (2005)
Focus Features
Jim Jarmusch has proven that no matter the stage in his career, he’s always full of surprises. In his late-career triumph Broken Flowers, Jarmusch tells one of his most moving and insightful stories to date. The film stars a brilliant Bill Murray as Don Juan, an aging retired software tycoon with a string of failed relationships behind him, who receives a mysterious letter from an unknown ex claiming he has a son. Encouraged by his neighbor Winston, he sets out on a road trip to discover the potential identity of the letter’s author, along the way reconnecting with several of his old flames. Broken Flowers succeeds thanks to Jarmusch’s compassionate yet artful direction and Murray’s understated and nuanced performance, one which reflects the film’s subtle storytelling as well. The film has an all-star cast that includes Murray, Sharon Stone, Frances Conroy, Jessica Lange, Tilda Swinton, Julie Delpy, Chloë Sevigny and Christopher McDonald. The film was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival and won the Grand Prix. It received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed $47.3 million worldwide on a $10 million budget.
Wright plays Don’s busybody neighbor with a lively accent and steals every scene he’s in. A standout scene is when he and Don convince Winston’s young son that the cigarette Winston smokes is “just cannabis,” instead of tobacco.
3 Roebuck Wright — The French Dispatch (2021)
Searchlight Pictures
The French Dispatch was released in October 2021 after pandemic-related delays. It is Wes Anderson’s comedy/romance love letter to journalism and tells the very interesting and wild story of an American newspaper published in France. The French Dispatch is perhaps one of the most visually appealing films to be released this past year. From the cinematography to the set design and costuming, everything about the movie is delightful to watch. Some of the greatest actors working today came together to star in the film including Bill Murray, Adrien Brody, Timothée Chalamet, Owen Wilson, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand, Benicio del Toro, Mathieu Amalric, Saoirse Ronan, Léa Seydoux and Elizabeth Moss.
A fitting, audacious ode to a particular style of long-form journalism, shown in a series of vignettes, The French Dispatch shows Wes formally at his most free. There’s plenty of Wes’ signature camera movement, gorgeous black and white cinematography sprinkled with his signature sense of melancholy tableau. First-time collaborator Jeffrey Wright plays Roebuck Wright, a food journalist based on an amalgamation of James Baldwin and A. J. Liebling. Aside from his wig, which is a hoot, Wright brings a confident, yet subdued intensity to the role. His character’s TV interview scenes with Liev Schreiber are Wes Anderson’s unique style at its finest.
2 Bernard Lowe — Westworld (2016 - Present)
HBO
Imaginative world-building has defined Westworld’s captivating vision of the future, featuring jaw-dropping architecture and the beautiful landscapes of its central robot theme park(s). This drama adapted the classic ’70s James Brolin flick using modern technology and set design, backing up its sci-fi premise with strong visual effects and sleek cinematography. The wonders only grew as the story branched out to include more than the initial Wild West park, the story of robot revolution spilling into the real world and other Delos parks – even a “Westeros” one. The series’ stunning version of 2058 gave us a technologically advanced (albeit morally corrupt) Los Angeles. We can’t wait to see what treasures season 4 of Westworld will bring.
Wright plays Bernard Lowe, Westworld’s head of the programming division and programmer of artificial people’s software. Wright also portrays Arnold Weber, the co-founder of Westworld. “Season 4 is going to be more of the Westworld you’ve come to expect and more digging down into some issues and some technology that is going to look familiar to us, as always. It’s gonna be exciting,” said Wright to Vanity Fair. “I’m not sure exactly when we’re to air but within the coming months, certainly.”
1 Felix Leiter — Casino Royale (2006) & No Time to Die (2021)
In Daniel Craig’s James Bond films, dating back to Casino Royale, Wright has always Bond’s CIA “good guy” liaison, Felix Leiter, He delightfully resurfaces in No Time to Die after going noticeably missing from Spectre. Speaking to SyFy about his character’s relationship to Bond, Wright said, “I think it’s grown from the first film, in which they didn’t know one another, and they’ve come to rely on one another and come to trust one another over the course of time. And so they find themselves once again in the mix together, because of that trust. And I think they exist in a time and in a place when there’s not much to be trusted, and I think we see that play out as our film unfolds.”
It’s that element of trust that makes Wright’s scenes in Craig’s final Bond outing so refreshing, as Felix goofs around with Bond at a nightclub while always giving it to Bond straight when it comes to business. No Time To Die saw Wright break a franchise record with the most appearances as the frequently-recast Felix, but it was bittersweet in the end. Felix was tragically killed off and replaced, in a sense, by Ana De Armas’ Paloma.
