Michael K. Williams Is More Than Omar From ‘The Wire’
After Omar, he was Chalky White, an Atlantic City bootlegger in “Boardwalk Empire” who reminded Mr. Williams of his father; then, in “The Night Of,” Freddy Knight, a Rikers Island inmate like his nephew Dominic Dupont;
and Ken Jones, a gay rights activist in “When We Rise,” whose battle with H. I.V.
“There are so many people here — beautiful and beautifully flawed people — and I want all of their stories to be told.”
It was a warm Friday afternoon in June, the 15th anniversary of the premiere of “The Wire,”
and Mr. Williams was back in East Flatbush to celebrate with some friends.
His first substantial acting role came courtesy of no less an authority than Tupac Shakur, who tapped Mr. Williams to play his brother in the 1996 film “Bullet.” Three
years later, he appeared as a drug dealer in Martin Scorsese’s “Bringing Out the Dead.” Then it was a brief cameo on “The Sopranos.” And finally, in 2002, “The Wire.”
Though his credentials were modest and his technique still unpolished, Mr. Williams immediately stood out in his audition.
“The way a lot of us from the neighborhood see it, Mike is like the prophet of the
projects,” said Darrel Wilds, 50, who grew up with Mr. Williams in Vanderveer.
By NOAH REMNICKJUNE 30, 2017
“The Wire,” HBO’s five-season epic of Baltimore life, is a perennial contender for the greatest television series ever,
and Michael K. Williams, in his role as the stickup man Omar Little, its most memorable actor.