Wendell Pierce Digs Into James Greer Risking His CIA Future In Jack Ryan Season 3 - Exclusive

Season 3 of "Jack Ryan" sees our favorite CIA analyst (and sometimes field agent) Jack Ryan (John Krasinski) forced on the run, all the while trying to uncover a deep and dangerous political conspiracy. Soviet Union loyalists are hard at work to resurrect the Sokol Project, an old and dangerous plan that uses carefully coordinated assassinations and nuclear armament to create tactical political chaos. Jack accompanies a clandestine operation to thwart said plan, but he finds himself scapegoated by the CIA when the plan goes awry. Wrongly implicated, he moves to clear his own name with nothing but his instincts and the off-the-record allyship of James Greer (Wendell Pierce) to help him find the way forward.

Greer finds himself caught regrettably between a rock and a hard place, trying to stay in the CIA's good graces while helping Ryan whenever he can. In an exclusive interview with Looper, Wendell Pierce discussed James Greer's Season 3 journey. Specifically, Pierce explained why the seasoned Greer would risk his career on the gamble of helping Jack Ryan.

In our interview, Wendell Pierce explained the lifelong loyalty Greer has for Ryan. "First of all, he saved my life," Pierce shared from Greer's perspective. "I'll always be indebted to him for that." It's one of the strongest bases for loyalty there is, and a bit of a life debt is certainly enough to make a little secretive advocacy worth the risk. Second, Pierce noted, "I trust his instincts. I'd learned that early on." 

With a host of dangerous journeys together, Greer has surely connected to Ryan and his ability to read a situation, even if it's risky. "He reminds me of myself when I was a younger officer, and so I trust him," Pierce explains. "There's the loyalty and the trust there," which is ultimately why Greer is willing to risk his own skin. He understands "that there's sometimes some moral ambiguity that you go through as you try to find your true north and what true north really is," Pierce elaborated, "especially when you're trying to get the intel to something that is happening. I want to allow him that space."

It's a hard-won trust that makes Greer a trustworthy ally even in the most complicated and dangerous of circumstances, and it fuels a thrilling Season 3.

Season 3 of "Jack Ryan" is available now on Prime Video.