Jeffrey Wright on Ice Baths, Marvel Fans, and Finding His Way
Most of us know Jeffrey Wright from his cool-headed, even-keeled roles in just about all of our favourite franchises, from The Hunger Games to the Daniel Craig-led James Bond movies. He always exudes a sense of calm—the serene voice and tone he possesses manage to bring that naturally—but with something else looming beneath the surface, whether that’s an anxiety only the audience knows about but can still register in his facial expressions, a desire to do better, or, sometimes, an uncertain and possibly sinister energy.
One thing you might not associate with Jeffrey Wright, however, is an extreme brand of physicality. In The Agency, the new spy thriller from Paramount+ with Showtime and Wright’s latest project, the 59-year-old plays Henry Ogletree, an espionage agent who operates largely behind the scenes; it’s costar Michael Fassbender who’s doing most of the running, jumping, and James Bond-esque spying.
'I do my own walking in this one—you may have noticed,' Wright says with a laugh on a sunny November afternoon at Men’s Health’s New York City offices. 'Yeah, my own walking stunts. It’s all me.'
Wright, however, is selling himself short. A lacrosse star during his time at Amherst College, he still plays regularly and keeps as physically active as he possibly can. As a New York City resident, he’s often seen biking around town. During the photo shoot for this very story, he’s thrilled when we bring a skateboard to the studio so he can show off some of his skills. He jokes, but he can kind of still do it all.
So, then, why is he not the one doing all that secret agenting?
It turns out that when he was 24, Wright tore his ACL. He didn’t have it operated on until eight years later, which left him with knees that are pretty faulty. During that time period, his career really started to take off, as he made his film debut opposite Harrison Ford in Presumed Innocent and played the titular role alongside David Bowie in Basquiat.
'There was a period back then where I would’ve loved to have done some super, super athletic stuff, but I just couldn’t, because my knee was so fucked up,' he says. 'But I push it as hard as I can—that’s why I’m doing all of that power walking you see from Henry. That’s all me.'
Nothing’s slowing him down, though. In addition to The Agency, Wright just appeared on the third and final season of Marvel’s What If...? and will star this year in Spike Lee’s new take on Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low. He also recently filmed his third movie with Wes Anderson, titled The Phoenician Scheme, and is in the early stages of planning to direct his own movie. And that’s all while staying fit and healthy—bad knees be damned.
Wright spoke with Men’s Health about staying in shape, earning his first Oscar nomination, and his many exciting projects and collaborations.
MEN’S HEALTH: I’ve heard that you and Michael Fassbender are both very into ice baths.
JEFFREY WRIGHT: Well, he had one next to his trailer—I didn’t even realise it was there. And I had started doing them, so, yeah, I would dip into his before filming. I had a groove going. I was doing them every day.
MH: Is that something that helps, mentally, to prepare for the day?
JW: The first time I did it was with Laird Hamilton out in California. My son and I took part in his workout program, XPT, which really focuses on the breath; it’s a lot of underwater work, which is super fun. But he’s big into the hot/cold contrast. So we do the sauna, and then get in the ice bath. But we did it in the midst of a number of different exercises and activities. I didn’t quite feel the specific impact of the ice. And I wasn’t really into it. I couldn’t get my head into it. You’ve got to want it.
What eventually happened was I went to visit a friend of mine in Amsterdam. We had been out the night before, which can fog the brain. The next day, we decided we were going to go get an ice bath, and the temperature was in Celsius: It was like 0.6 degrees. Like, dead cold. So I got in the sauna and then went into the ice bath, and I was like, 'Wow.' Then 45 seconds and I’m out. Then I went back in the sauna, got back into the ice bath for another 45 seconds. I was like, 'Oh, wow.' I did that three times. And whatever was in my head from the night before just vanished. The rest of the day, I felt super charged and super clear. And it was at that point that I understood the benefits, the adrenaline release, and the vascular work. I got hooked.
MH: You make a strong case for them.
JW: Oh, it’s incredible. Incredible.
MH: You’re always working—how important is balancing that with staying active and maintaining your family life?
JW: I found it hard, when my kids were at home, to focus on myself. When I was younger, I was a college athlete, and I was fortunate and unfortunate that in some ways my athleticism came to me easily. I just played, and I stayed in shape that way.
I probably should have worked out more in those days, because it would have only heightened my physicality. But gyms turned me off. I think they’re boring. I think they’re narcissistic and weird. It’s just not my vibe. However, now my kids are away from home and I’ve circled back to considerations of me.
I’m as active now as I’ve been in many years. When I was in London [shooting The Agency], I rode my bike to work every day. I was staying near the studio. So it was about a 20-minute ride, probably half of it uphill. A nice climb to wake me up in the morning. And then, after work, I would go into the gym at the hotel, despite my previous aversion, and try to do a little bit here and there, simply because I’m decidedly at that 'use it or lose it' stage [of life]. The bike particularly helps clear my head.
MH: The Agency came together really quickly. What was it that drew you to this project?
JW: It’s been pretty intense. But it’s exciting because there’s a desire on the part of Paramount+ and Showtime to get it out there. I was drawn to it because I thought it was smart, nuanced, and human. It was also set in a very contemporary and grounded geopolitical world.
Also, it was obvious that there was a really strong group of people circling around this. That’s why I was pulled in. Michael Fassbender was on board. George Clooney and Grant Heslov were on board to coproduce, and Joe Wright to direct the first couple of episodes. And it was clear that the intention was to make something of a high level. That’s where I want to be. That’s where I like to work. So, off to London I went.
MH: How do you think the experience working on another prestige show like Westworld prepared you for this?
JW: Westworld tuned me in many ways for work like this, or on any film. We probably averaged 16 and a half, 17 hours a day on Westworld. We shot the equivalent of five or six movies in the course of six to eight months. There was not a lot of time for bullshit. We were grinding and working on a show that was trying to push the edge, that was super complex and of a massive scope and scale.
So, as an actor working inside that framework, you’ve got to be ready for it, and you’ve got to be able to grind through it. For Westworld, I was on set once for 21 hours, which is extreme. And probably not desirable for anyone. But you just don’t skate through that. And so it’s trained me to be prepared for any situation that I’ll come up against.
MH: You got your first Oscar nomination last year for American Fiction. Only so many people ever get such an experience—attending the awards circuit for all those months and networking with high-profile people behind the scenes. What was it like?
JW: It was interesting. It was a grind—annoying at times. I thought it was disproportionate, but also touching at moments, and personal. I got to interact with a lot of people who were appreciative not only of the work that I did on American Fiction, but also work I’ve done throughout my career. People whose work moved me, people who I respect, other actors that have been influential on me. Yeah, so it was a lot. Nice to be recognised by your peers, but I’m glad it’s over.
MH: I loved you in The Batman as well. Are you preparing yet for the sequel?
JW: No.
MH: Not yet?
JW: Not at all. Not by any stretch of the imagination. I haven’t had time.
MH: In that first Batman movie, you had a number of memorable scenes with guys like Robert Pattinson and Colin Farrell, particularly the interrogation scene. What’s your thought process for working with guys like that for the first time?
JW: You have to be fluid and find your way. I mean, in that interrogation scene, I could not remember my lines. I’d stumbled around that scene take after take, because I had been in my hotel room for 10 days straight prior. I’d come back to London. It was in the middle of the pandemic. It was my third quarantine. And I ended up not leaving my hotel room for 10 days straight.
My head was in such a weird place. We were in a 200-person hotel, but there were only two other people staying there; it was like living inside the hotel from The Shining. When I finally went into work, I was just all over the place. So, I was tolerated, and we ultimately got it. But that was a scenario I had never experienced before. So, yeah, I should have had an ice bath.
MH: You’re one of the few actors who’s actively in both DC and Marvel productions. Do you ever hear from fans of either or both? How do you view your status within those worlds?
JW: What I really appreciate about fans of this stuff is that they have a very personal connection to these characters and these franchises, and it’s meaningful to them in a significant way. These characters represent a mythic heroism that is not to be taken for granted. People need something to believe in.
There’s also some weird fringe stuff out there that’s kind of dopey. There’s that whole set of people who are in this cult of one interpretation of the Batman franchise, which is just so odd. But I dig that people find themselves inside these films and really love these characters and the books and the films. So I try to honour what I feel is the legitimate core of this world and hope it exceeds the expectations of the fans out there.
MH: I know you probably don’t want to say too much, but what can you tease about the new Spike Lee movie?
JW: It’s Spike’s adaptation of Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low. In that film, Toshiro Mifune plays this shoe executive. In our film, Denzel Washington plays an executive, but a record executive. It follows the plotline of Kurosawa’s film. So I play his right-hand guy who he grew up with. I got into a bit of trouble with the lawman, as they say. But now I’m working with him, and our sons grew up together and are practically like brothers. In the beginning of the film, there’s a kidnapping, and we go from there.
MH: You’ve worked with no shortage of legends over the years, but Spike and Denzel is quite the combo.
JW: Yeah.
MH: Obviously you’ve known those guys for a while, so it’s a bit different. But were you almost fanboying at all at the start? They’re just such titans of what they do.
JW: I’d worked with Denzel before. I did a tiny thing with Spike before. We had been kind of threatening to work together for many years. Spike grew up in the neighbourhood that I live in and still has the headquarters for [his production company] 40 Acres in Fort Greene. So I’ve known Spike for a long time. I just showed up to work and be a part of it. It’s fascinating the relationship that the two of them have together, and it’s a trusting relationship. And it’s one born over, what, five films now?
MH: Now five, yeah. But none since Inside Man.
JW: Right. It’s been a while. But no, I didn’t have time to fanboy. I had to go to work.
MH: Denzel has mentioned that he might be thinking about retiring soon. Do you guys ever talk about that kind of thing and the idea of legacies?
JW: Denzel owes nothing to this game. Denzel is the successor of Sidney Poitier and has worn that mantle beautifully. So he owes nothing to anyone in terms of this work. And he’s done it a long time. Most people who work as long as he has on this are ready to call it a day. So I can’t speak for him. But yeah, I mean, I’ve heard him say that he wants to be very specific in the work that he does going forward and then take it from there.
MH: You’ve gotten to work with so many dream directors, including Wes Anderson, Jonathan Demme, Spike Lee, and Matt Reeves. What’s something you haven’t gotten to do yet that you would like to in the future?
JW: Well, Spike would say to me, and a few other people I’ve worked with have said to me, 'When are you going to direct?' So that may be in the works. That is in the works, actually, for a project we’ll shoot in 2026. I’ll have to talk to you about that one later.
MH: How do you think you’ve prepared for that over the years?
JW: I’ve had the opportunity to work with many of the great directors of the last couple generations. Everyone from Alan Pakula to Sidney Lumet to Mike Nichols. When I worked with Pakula, Gordon Willis was the cinematographer. I’ve worked with George Wolfe. I’ve worked with Oliver Stone. I worked with Matt Reeves, Wes Anderson, Spike Lee, Jonah Nolan on Westworld. I’ve had an opportunity to observe like an apprentice over many years. And I’ve had the opportunity to learn from the actor’s perspective about the inner workings of a movie set and about how to organise a frame. So, yeah, I look forward to exercising some of that and not having to show up to work in the morning and put on someone else’s clothes.
This interview has been edited for content and clarity.
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