Remembering Michael K. Williams

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

NPR

Society & Culture

4.7 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 14 September 2021

⏱️ ? minutes

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Summary

Actor Michael K. Williams died earlier this month. He was 54 years old. He was best known for playing Omar Little on The Wire. Michael began his career in entertainment first as a dancer in New York, then an actor with a handful of walk-on credits. By the time he auditioned for The Wire he was in his mid-30s. When Jesse Thorn talked with him in 2016, he was starring in a show called Hap and Leonard. When we heard the news about Williams' passing, we went into the archives to listen back to our conversation. There's some stuff you might've heard in the past, a lot of stuff you haven't.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of MaximumFun.org and is distributed by NPR.
0:14.3	It's Bullseye, I'm Jesse Thorn.
0:16.3	Michael K. Williams, the actor, died earlier this month.
0:19.9	He was 54.
0:20.9	To the many of us who were fans of his work, the news was quite a gut punch.
0:27.0	A headline or a push notification or a text from a friend on an otherwise quiet Labor Day.
0:33.8	That's in part because of how Williams' work has affected us.
0:37.7	He was known for playing Omar Little on the wire.
0:40.6	Omar was, and I don't think this is controversial to say, easily the best character on one of
0:45.8	the best TV shows of all time.
0:48.8	Omar was a stick-up man.
0:50.6	He lived both outside the law and under constant threat of retaliation from the drug dealers
0:55.6	he robbed.
0:56.9	He took his grandmaw to church.
0:59.2	He was deeply in love with his boyfriend Brandon.
1:02.1	He was an iconic character.
1:04.2	But Michael K. Williams added something unique to the role.
1:08.4	In the midst of a stick-up, he carried himself with a macho swagger, a crooked smile, and
1:13.5	a killer one-liner.
1:15.1	And in the next scene, it all falls apart.
1:16.9	He'd be tender, vulnerable.
1:19.0	He felt his pain.
	...

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