Happy Birthday, James Earl Jones!

Jack Ryan and The Wire alum Wendell Pierce announced on Monday he'll be playing blues legend B.B. King in the upcoming biopic The Thrill Is On. Fans of King will likely spot the biopic's title as a riff on one of King's most treasured hits, "The Thrill Is Gone." This will be Pierce's first film role in a hot minute, with his most recent movie appearances in Burning Cane and Clemency occurring in 2019 and The Thrill Is On likely not hitting theaters until at least 2021. Pierce is no stranger to portraying real-life …

Wendell Pierce is officially on the campaign trail — to become the new voice of Cleveland on Family Guy. The Jack Ryan and The Wire actor submitted himself for consideration after longtime Cleveland actor Mike Henry, a white man, stepped down from the role after voicing the character for 20 years. Henry's news came on the heels of Jenny Slate and Kristen Bell stepping down from their roles on popular adult animated shows Big Mouth and Central Park, respectively, where they voiced Black characters even though they are, in reality, white. Pierce announced his desire to voice Cleveland on Sunday …