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'If you can't beat them, confuse them': Jeffrey Wright on overcoming Hollywood's tendency to typecast

Jeffrey Wright has taken on hefty roles such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Colin Powell, but his new film Hold the Dark came with some unique challenges. He discusses how he's been able to continually redefine himself as an actor.
CBC Radio ·
Actor Jeffrey Wright attends the 70th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater on September 17, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Getty Images for IMDb)

You may know Jeffrey Wright as Bernard Lowe from the hit series Westworld, but the Emmy, Tony and Golden Globe-winning actor has taken on hefty roles for three decades, including Jean-Michel Basquiat in the 1996 film Basquiat and Colin Powell in 2008's W.

While these are the kind of roles that could easily define a career, somehow Wright has been able to redefine himself and rise above Hollywood's tendency to typecast.

In his new film Hold the Dark, Wright plays Russell Core, a wolf expert who is brought in to help a mother whose young child has been killed. The film is by Jeremy Saulnier, a director who's known for intense, twisted thrillers. On top of that, the film was shot in Kananaskis, Alta., in the middle of winter. Wright talks to Tom Power about some of these challenges and how he overcame them.

Hold the Dark comes out on Netflix tomorrow, Friday, September 28.

Listen to the full conversation with Jeffrey Wright near the top of this page. 

— Produced by ​Cora Nijhawan​

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