Jeffrey Wright on TIME's 100 Most Influential People (2024)

[JamesG]

by Octavia Spencer
Oscar-winning Actress


The first time I watched Jeffrey Wright act, I wanted to devour all his work. An actor who can disappear inside a role is, to me, the hallmark of genius. I believed him in The Hunger Games, in Angels in America, in Shaft.

In American Fiction, Jeffrey captured what it feels like for me as an artist: there’s what the world wants to see and the stereotypes it expects—and there’s the determination to defy those expectations. Jeffrey has always challenged what society thinks a Black actor should or should not be. As much as I loved American Fiction, it also left me a little hollow—because it shows the journey people of color face, especially Black people. Jeffrey embodied it beautifully.

He pulls you in with his soulfulness, through his eyes, through the stillness and nuance of his work. It can be explosive. It can be quiet. He’s constantly pushing himself, and he’s influencing a new generation of actors to go further.

https://time.com/6964713/jeffrey-wright/