John Amos said playing Admiral Percy Fitzwallace on The West Wing was a role he “would have paid to do.” He valued the character’s authority and restraint: Fitzwallace could address institutional grievances without raising his voice, and Aaron Sorkin’s dialogue, Amos said, reflected both the man’s position and the military.
Why John Amos valued playing Fitzwallace
In an edited excerpt from a December 2014 interview with the Television Academy Foundation, Amos identified Fitzwallace as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and said: “The role of Admiral Percy Fitzwallace [chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff] is one I would have paid to do.”
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That enthusiasm makes sense alongside Amos’s later explanation of what interested him in the character. In a 2021 interview with TIME, he described Fitzwallace as a figure with the authority to raise institutional concerns while remaining measured: “He had the opportunity to address institutional grievances—but he never had to raise his voice or become demonstrative in his feelings to the point that it became so one-sided.”
What Amos thought of Aaron Sorkin’s dialogue
Amos praised how Sorkin wrote Fitzwallace’s lines, saying, “I love the way that Aaron Sorkin had written this character’s dialogue, as it reflected on the man’s position and the military.” He connected that writing to a line challenging the continuation of inequities. His point was not simply that Fitzwallace spoke forcefully; the character could make a challenge from within a position of institutional authority without turning it into a one-sided demonstration.
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The Colin Powell encounter Amos recalled
Amos also recalled meeting then-Secretary of State Colin Powell in Washington. According to Amos’s account in the Television Academy Foundation excerpt, Powell recognized him as Fitzwallace and joked: “Percy Fitzwallace! What kind of name is that for a brother?” It is Amos’s recollection of the exchange, rather than independently documented dialogue, but it captures how the fictional role entered a real-world encounter.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.More of Amos’s West Wing interview archive
The Television Academy Interviews archive catalogs clips labeled around Amos playing and understanding Fitzwallace, rehearsals, working with Martin Sheen and John Spencer, the character’s ending, and the show’s legacy. Those labels point to related interview subjects; they do not, on their own, establish the full content of each clip.
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