Meet your new 'Lion King': Aaron Pierre is ready for his breakout with 'Mufasa'

Aaron Pierre recalls standing at bottom stage left, narrating his high school production of "Moby-Dick," when he decided he wanted to be a professional actor.

At 14, though, the native Londoner wasn’t yet rocking the same smooth baritone he has as young Mufasa – a role James Earl Jones made famous – in the Disney prequel “Mufasa: The Lion King” (in theaters now).

“I used to have a really high voice and a really high laugh. I probably still have the high laugh part but it took a while to break. And then when it did, I kind of didn't know what to do with myself,” Pierre says with a somewhat deep chuckle. “Now we’re OK.”

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This year has been a breakthrough for Pierre, who previously appeared in “Mufasa” director Barry Jenkins’ “The Underground Railroad” series and M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller “Old.” In 2024, Pierre starred as Malcolm X in the miniseries “Genius: MLK/X” (with “Lion King” co-star Kelvin Harrison Jr.), played an ex-Marine with fight in the Netflix action thriller “Rebel Ridge” and now voices Mufasa on his path to becoming a great leader.

In the first 1994 film (and 2019 redo), the older Mufasa “is the pinnacle of his community, and he has an abundance of wisdom,” says Pierre, 30. “But here we meet him way before that point and we get to understand the trajectory. We discover he is an orphan. He was separated from his family. He was ostracized, he was degraded, he was dismissed, he was name-called.

“I imagine if I was watching this as a younger version of myself, I would find that really energizing and inspiring to know that was the journey. And despite some circumstances that he dealt with, he utilized those to become the great king that he became. There's something really joyful in that.”

Here’s what else new fans need to know about Pierre:

Singing Disney tunes was a new experience for ‘Mufasa’ star Aaron Pierre

Before “Mufasa,” singing for Pierre was “something that I only ever engaged within the context of my own home when no one’s in,” he quips. “I would like quietly try and hold a note if one of my favorite songs is playing.” He enjoyed letting loose on three of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s six new “Lion King” songs. “It was like a little bootcamp of unlocking the voice," Pierre says. "Hopefully, the embarrassing (behind-the-scenes) footage of me trying to hit these notes doesn't come out. I'm really straining but eventually we got there.”

Pierre loves jazz, and around the house, he’s likely to be humming along to his favorite singers – Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye – on one of his two record players. He’s a big vinyl guy: “You don't have the capacity to skip, you don't have the capacity to rewind. You just have to listen to it and when it comes to side B, you flip it over. That's a really wonderful thing, especially in a time where things move so fast.”

The British ‘Lion King’ actor got a running start back in the day

Growing up, Pierre says he wanted to be “an athlete of some description” and was passionate about track and field. One day in London, he and his mom spotted one of his idols, American Olympic sprinter Maurice Greene, who was the world record holder in the 100 meter – one of Pierre's main events. “This was way before you could take a selfie, so she gave me a grocery receipt,” Pierre says. He excitedly approached Greene, who signed the receipt, but “I lost it, unfortunately. I'm devastated about that.”

Then came that life-changing moment as a teen in “Moby-Dick.” “I just had this overwhelming feeling of (acting) is what I want to do,” Pierre recalls. “And I also had this overwhelming feeling of no one in the audience needed to be there. They had actively made the decision to be present here and gift us with their time.” It's a mindset he holds onto: “It’s my responsibility to give nothing short of my everything to honor that.”

Next up for Aaron Pierre: a superhero space cop in HBO’s ‘Lanterns’

Pierre has a supporting role as an acclaimed artist in the upcoming fourth season of “The Morning Show” on Apple TV+ and next year he starts production on “Lanterns,” a new “True Detective”-style HBO sci-fi drama set in James Gunn's rebooted DC superhero universe. The show centers on Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and John Stewart (Pierre), two human members of the intergalactic Green Lantern Corps investigating a murder mystery on Earth.

Pierre is no stranger to comic book projects, after starring in the short-lived Syfy series “Krypton” and almost playing Adam Warlock in Gunn’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” ("Underground Railroad" co-star Will Poulter won that role.) But being cast as John Stewart, one of DC Comics’ first Black superheroes, is special.

“He radiates strength. He radiates intelligence in both capacities, emotional and intellectual. He radiates clarity. He radiates a deep understanding of his identity,” Pierre says. “It's truly a gift to have been blessed with this opportunity.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New 'Lion King' Aaron Pierre roars in 'Mufasa,' upcoming 'Lanterns'