"Omar!"
It's more than a name, it's a salutation among devotees of the beloved,
just-completed HBO dramatic series The Wire. Explaining the phenomenon to those
unaware can be difficult, but try this: Over the course of The Wire's five seasons, Michael Kenneth
Williams' complicated, violent character, Omar Little, somehow gained more love
and respect from audiences than even the show's ostensible heroes in the
Baltimore Police Department. Introduced in season one as a drug-dealer-robbing
gay thief with a prominent facial scar (a real souvenir from a bar fight Williams
had in his 20s), Omar quickly became a pivotal character—a surprisingly
ethical thief and killer with a fierce devotion to the code of the streets. By the
series' end, that devotion made Little the last of a dying breed. With The
Wire's gritty, realistic
portrayals of Baltimore street life, no cast member was guaranteed a happy
ending. That went double for Omar Little, whose job—robbing drug dealers
with a shotgun—routinely put a price on his head. By the time season five
began in January, many Wire
fans were so invested in Williams' character that each of his scenes felt heavy
with dread. They wanted the murderous Omar to live through the series'
conclusion, but most surely knew that the show wouldn't allow such a life to
end happily. [Spoiler ahead, and many more in the interview.] Omar Little's
strangely noble life met an ignoble end, shot by a child gunman in the back of
the head while buying his usual pack of Newports. The scene disappointed many
fans, but it stayed true to The Wire's almost impenetrable search for truth. Regardless, for
Williams it was a happy ending. The Wire has provided a breakthrough, iconic role for the New
Yorker, who started his career as a dancer-choreographer in the early '90s.
He's currently involved in several projects, including Spike Lee's upcoming
WWII drama, Miracle At St. Anna,
and John Hillcoat's adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's The Road, co-starring Viggo Mortensen and
Charlize Theron. Just before The Wire ended, Williams spoke with The A.V. Club about life as Omar, The Wire's thematic arch, and R. Kelly's
prolificacy.
The A.V. Club:
Do you get called Omar a lot?
Michael
Kenneth Williams: On the
regular. It's like Omar is my alias name. I get called Omar more than I get
called Michael—it's crazy.
AVC: When did
you get the sense that people were getting attached to the character?
MKW: In the beginning people would come up and
tell me how much they love the character, love the show. I didn't really
believe it. I just took it as "Oh thanks, I'm just a guy on a TV show. I'm one
of many people on
this particular TV show doing as great a work as you think I'm doing." After a
while I started to listen to what was being said. One lady, she grabs me and
says, "No you don't understand.
We needed this. This needed to be said. We needed The Wire, and we needed Omar." One time, this
gentleman in L.A. at an audition, he grabbed me, and you could tell this man
had been to hell and back—to hell and back. And he grabbed my hand, he looked in my eye, and
he said: "I know you
a real thug, nigga. I know!"
I was like, "Dude, I've never even bust a gun before The Wire. I've never even held a gun before The
Wire." I didn't have the
heart to tell him. I realized then that when people see me, they really see
this character.
It
was a little scary in the beginning because I don't want people thinking I'm
some… They start testing me and shit. But I see it like, "You know Mike, don't
even think negatively about it. This is love." I'm going to embrace it for what
it's for, which is love and admiration. I'm gonna look at it like that. I just
started embracing it. And from that point, I listened to everything people said.
They say, "I know you hear this a thousand times…" I don't treat it that way. I
treat it like it's the first time I'm hearing it, and I take my time, and I
listen to what they're saying, and I concur, and we have a real conversation.
And I started realizing that this is something happening here. This is not just
another television show. This is doing something to the community and for the
community. People are responding in a way that I've never really seen people
respond to other television shows.
AVC: So was
it after the first season that you noticed?
MKW: I would say third season. First season I
was oblivious. Second season I was too busy, worried at the fact that they had
all these new actors in, white actors. I'd never seen that before in a
television show. "What, you're gonna change the whole cast?! What is this?!
After the great season we had last year, why would you not want to bring us
back?" I realize, looking back, what they were doing. They had a story to tell,
and had they not told that dock story, a big part of this puzzle would have
been left out. Because we all know what brothers are doing in the 'hood, with
the work. We all know who sold the drug, who used the drug. But what we never
really focus on is where the work comes from. We're not on them docks or ports,
you feel me? And then it opened up a bigger picture, like who's watching the
docks? When you say there's a war on drugs, what the fuck is that? What is this
war on drugs when the work comes in fresh off the water, right into the harbor,
right into the city? So looking back I realize what was going on, that season
two was very necessary. But I was too caught up in my own matrix of wanting to
just work and stay working. But by the time season three came along, I started
to get it.
AVC: The
Wire has a
reputation for springing plot developments on the cast at the last minute. How
much time was there between when you found out Omar was going to be killed and
when you shot the scene?
MKW: I think they gave me a call about a week
or less before the scripts went out, then I got the script and read it to
myself.
AVC: Did you
make any special preparations, or were you trying to make it just like another
day in Omar's life?
MKW: Just another day at the office. I'll
tell you what was weird, though. That day on the set, everybody was trying to
act like there wasn't an elephant in the room. Nobody really wanted to deal
with the emotion of losing Omar. It was like: "We're not going to mourn this television character. We're not going to get that painful
feeling because of a character." Everybody was in agreement, but it was clear
everybody was trying not to go there. It was weird seeing me with the make-up.
I could imagine what that did to people. We're a family down there in
Baltimore. The cast of The Wire
is a very communal cast. That scene represented a lot more than just a
character leaving; it was the end of an era for the cast as a whole, for this
television show, and for Omar.
AVC: Because
you lost so many recurring characters over the course of the season, was there
any sort of tradition for when somebody got killed off?
MKW: Nothing really special. We'd normally
always be there. Like the time when Kima got shot in season one, I think the
entire cast was there. That was the first big "Oh shit!" Excuse my language. We
all were there for that. When D'Angelo went out, Larry [Gillard Jr.] got so
many phone calls; everybody just went right to him. I think his phone was
filling up that whole week. Everybody was like, "Are you all right? Need
anything?" When Stringer Bell went, everybody was there. It was crazy. Same
thing with Omar.
AVC: David
Simon said that Omar's death wasn't so much the consequence of his actions, but
fate. Did you see it more as Omar getting what was coming to him, or as
something else?
MKW: Yeah, there's a little bit of karma in
there. Revenge is not a positive state of mind or energy to indulge your self
in. That clearly was what Omar was coming back for initially. The base of what
he came back for was revenge, murder. Really more so than that was his fate,
because they do say that "live by the gun, you die by the gun." But what I
really think Omar's death represented is a message that those lifestyles, the
roads, the choices you make have consequences. Omar's very popular with the
youth. It's cool to love Omar. I love Omar, nobody love Omar more than me, but
make no mistake: I pray to God nobody wants to be this dude, because I had to
get inside of his mind, and it's a dark, dark vortex. Let's let Omar rest in
peace, and let's remember him in a positive light. Let his legacy stand for
something positive. We gotta do better. Omar was a smart dude with a good heart
and a lot of common sense. Had he applied himself to other things, anything he
would have applied himself to unquestionably would have been successful.
[pagebreak]
AVC: How much
did you interact with David Simon?
MKW: You know it wasn't so much interaction
with David. I think [the creators] gave me a lot of trust. They trusted me and
my decisions as an actor, and I trusted them and the decisions they made as
writers and creators. I would say that Ed Burns was real adamant about being on
the set to make sure… You know, we changed directors per episode, and they were
really adamant about no one coming in and trying to stylize Omar, like, "It
would be cool if he came in and both doors flew open." No, no, no, no, no. Omar
would not do that. We know it's a sexy shot, but that's not what Omar would do.
Omar's a thinking man, a little smarter than that. Someone could be behind that
door and blow his head off. They would just be very adamant about doing not
what's good for the camera but what looks good for the reality of this
character.
AVC: It's
interesting how strict they were with how Omar would be presented.
MKW: Oh very strict, very strict. Once it was
established that Omar doesn't use profanity… One time a script got past David
and Ed and it had profanity in some of Omar's lines. I was like, "I don't know,
let me call this to David: You know Omar say shit, right?" He's like, "Aw fuck,
it got by me! Mike, listen to me. I'm very busy. From now on in, if you see any
scripts with a curse in it, you omit it. You take it out. Omar does not curse.
That does not change."
AVC: The
rumor was that they'd written "HE IS NOT EFFEMINATE" in giant letters on the
original character breakdown.
MKW: They were clear about that. We just
wanted to play the sexuality the way it should be in real life: matter-of-factly.
We didn't want to harp on that or make that the main focal point of who or what
he was. That clearly was not what you're going to remember this character for.
That never changed. Stringer Bell or Marlo would call him a dicksucker or
something like that—that was just rolling over his head like it weren't
even said. "All right, I'm still going to stick this barrel down your throat.
You're still going to suck this gun."
AVC: How did
the final episode compare to how you thought the series was going to end?
MKW: It's quite accurate. I think it's
spot-on. If you look at the way things have always ended at the end of the
season, they never wrap up all the conclusions in a nice little ball and give
it to you within your hour, which you expect with the normal television dramas.
You can always expect that, by the end of the hour, the bad guy's gonna get
caught, the good guy's gonna prevail, hunky dory. Doesn't work that way with The
Wire, man. Sometimes the
bad guy gets away, sometimes the good guy gets killed, and sometimes the gray
guy just stays gray. The Wire
always left some things out there. That was part of our solution. This ending
has stayed true to the way all the other seasons ended. We didn't do anything
special for this ending.
AVC: It
seemed less bleak than it could've been.
MKW: Yeah, man, you gotta inject some hope.
You can't X out all the hope. We leave it in your hands now. What would you
have done? What could you if the situation presented itself in your community?
How would you deal with this person that reminds you of one of those characters
when they confront you, when you cross their path? That's all we wanted to do,
man, was shed light on a situation and give voice to a people that go normally
unheard from.
AVC: How will
you get away from Omar's shadow?
MKW: I'm not interested in shaking that
shadow. I don't believe in typecasting. I think it's a crock. You have to do
what you do to get where you wanna go. I always tell everybody that asks me
that question: When De Niro first started out, he was doing all those mafia
movies. I'm sure Meet The Fockers
was the furthest thing from his brain, or what's that other one?
AVC: Analyze
This?
MKW: Yeah, he was doing Raging Bull and them groundbreaking films, he wasn't
thinking about them roles. He was thinking about keeping it consistent, and
keeping his level of respect. Because he knew those roles were closer to him at
that point in his career. He stayed with them because that was his best side,
and he kept them honest and true and authentic. He built his empire, he built
his career, to the point that he could pick and choose and try something new.
Right now, I was given an amazing character, an amazing platform, and I'm not
interested in shaking the shadow of Omar. He's gonna always be in my heart and
mind. And I love what that character and that show has done for me, and what
it's shown me and given me the opportunity to do. It's all part of the game. It
could be 20 years from now, and somebody could scream out "Omar!" and I'd still
say "Yo!" You feel me? I never get tired of that.
AVC: Aside
from Spike Lee, you're working with a couple of new directors like Joshua
Goldin and Antonia Macia on upcoming projects. How much of a role does the
director play in your decision to accept a part? MKW: My theater director, Mel Williams,
always said, "Michael, come in with your choices. Be clear as crystal when you
get on the set about the choices you have decided to make with this character,
but willing to remain open. The director might want to just totally repaint the
whole thing." So when I come to the set I try to remain a blank canvas, to give
the director the opportunity to bend and shape me. I take myself out of the way
and let the process happen, because you got to trust the people you're working
with. I never look at the monitor, I never go watch the dailies, or any roll
playbacks. If the director says "check the gate," [meaning the director's
ready to move to the next shot —ed.] I do "ka-ching," and that's it. You ain't gotta tell me,
"Great work, Mike," ain't gotta go and pat my back. Because I know for a fact
you are not paid the big bucks to stroke my ego. And when you say "check the
gate," it's because you got the shot. So that's my compliment. If you're
checking the gate within one or two takes, that's a good feeling for me. That's
my compliment, and that means I did a good job. So I just try to sit back and
keep Michael Kenneth Williams out of the way.
AVC: Well,
finally, do you know of any plans for the next chapters of R. Kelly's Trapped
In The Closet?
MKW: Man, whenever Kels call me, I'm there,
man. That's my brother. I love that too, man. I had so much fun working with
him on that project. He's a classy dude. He's very talented, and I thought Trapped
In The Closet was
ingenious. I can't wait to go back out there and finish those chapters. I know
for a fact he's working on more, but with his schedule and mine, when we get to
do it, I don't know. But I know there's gonna be more chapters… Kels is crazy.
Robert ain't wrapped too tight.
AVC: What do
you think the talent-to-crazy ratio is on him? 50-50? 60-40? 30-70?
MKW: Let me tell you something: He's a muse.
The stuff funnels through him, he shits it out like nothing. When we were doing Trapped In The Closet,
we'd get there early in the morning, we'd shoot for nothing less than 12 to 15
hours, we'd wrap, and he would go straight to the basketball courts and play
basketball for God knows how long. Then around 1, 2, 3 in the morning, he goes
down to [his studio] the Chocolate Factory. As we were filming the chapters, he
was writing and producing it. If he got an idea and wanted to tweak it, or a
lot of times at night he gets a vibe for a song, he'll go down to Chocolate
Factory and be in the studio for two or three hours. When he got finished with that, when he got tired, he would get on his
tour bus and drive back to
the set at like 4 or 5 in the morning, and he would sleep in front of the set
on his bus because he knew if he slept in his bed, it might be a problem, know
what I mean? He'd sleep on his tour bus right in front of the set, and when the
crew and cast got there, they'd call his people and they'd wake him up on the
bus. That's how he be, you feel me? The dude is crazy.