Michael K. Williams Reveals He Was Scared To Portray Gay Omar on ‘The Wire’
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Actor Michael K. Williams, who played Omar on HBO’s critically acclaimed The Wire, admits that he was initially scared to portray the gay character in his newly released memoir.
The beloved actor and costar of The Wire, Boardwalk Empire, and Community was in the final stages of finishing the manuscript, Scenes from My Life, which was co-written with author Jon Sternfeld, when he died unexpectedly in September 2021 of a drug overdose. Williams’s cool rasp leaps off every page, his story told in the direct yet impassioned language that defined his greatest characters.
Williams talks about the real-life inspiration for Omar, recounts the day he auditioned for the role, and goes into detail about all the research and training he did with both hired experts and colorful figures from his own life to make the character believable. Williams’ description of how he visualized Omar — what made him so effective as the character — could double as a characterization of Michael K. Williams, actor and man:
“Omar is sensitive and vulnerable and he loves with his heart on his sleeve. You can say what you want to him—it rolls right off—but don’t you dare mess with his people. He loves absolutely, fearlessly, with his entire being.”
“If it looks real to you, it feels real to me. On The Wire, Omar’s tenacity and swagger were based on people I knew and grew up with — including Joanie’s brother KJoanie was a childhood friend of Williams’s. Her brother K— was a gangster whose “name rang out throughout the borough.” — and RobinRobin was their cousin.. But his pain, his raw nerves, I didn’t have to look anywhere for that. I was built out of that stuff.”
If I’m honest, at the Omar audition, I was so beat down emotionally that the stillness came from somewhere else: I was just dog tired. I had given up and didn’t care anymore. That’s the most ironic thing. That exhaustion, that fuck-the-world attitude, helped get me the part that would change my life.
To play Omar, I tapped into the confidence and fearlessness of people I’d known growing up. I borrowed from the projects, even asking K— to take me up on the roof of my building at VeerWilliams grew up in the Vanderveer Estates, 30 acres of high-rise buildings in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. to teach me how to shoot a gun. I’d held guns before, but never in preparation to use one, and I didn’t want to be one of those dudes holding their gun all sideways. Concerned about my tiny wrists I asked K— to show me the proper way to hold one. “So, do I use two hands or one?” I asked him.
“Nothing to do with your wrist size,” he said. “You definitely want to use two hands, because that’s how people who know how to handle a gun do it.”
As for Omar’s homosexuality, it was groundbreaking 20 years ago, and I admit that at first I was scared to play a gay character. I remember helping my mother carry groceries to her apartment and telling her about this new role that I booked. I knew from the jump he was going to be a big deal. “This character is going to change my career,” I said. “But the thing is …” I hesitated. “He’s openly gay.” My mother is as conservative as they come, and I worried she would not be behind me at all.
“Well, baby,” she said, “that’s the life you chose and I support it.” She hadn’t embraced the arts or my interest in them, but to me, that was her version of encouragement. I took it for what it was worth. I think my initial fear of Omar’s sexuality came from my upbringing, the community that raised me, and the stubborn stereotypes of gay characters. Once I realized that Omar was non-effeminate, that I didn’t have to talk or walk in a flamboyant way, a lot of that fear drained away. I made Omar my own. He wasn’t written as a type, and I wouldn’t play him as one.
Williams, who added that he was called “faggot Mike” growing up, transformed into Omar when he was 35 years old.
Since Omar was the “opposite of the stereotypical hood types,” Williams pushed The Wire production to showcase all facets of Omar’s life onscreen, including his gay relationships. Williams recalled that “everyone was dancing around their intimacy issue” when it came to Omar and his lover Brandon (Michael Kevin Darnall).
“There was lots of touching hair and rubbing lips and things like that,” Williams said of the script. “I felt like if we were going to do this, we should go all in. I think the directors were scared, and I said to one of them, ‘You know gay people fuck, right?’”
Williams relapsed while playing the character.
“Omar became a superhero costume I wore to hide from myself. I put it on, made it my own, and then let it overtake my life. The lines got blurry and it all went to my head. Everyone thought that I was him, and pretty soon, I was making the same mistake. Inside that long black trench coat, I felt invincible, protected from any threats from the outside and whatever was haunting me on the inside. Not only did I not have to be Mike, but I could be someone revered, feared, and beloved. Everywhere I went people wanted to buy me drinks, smoke me up, or just shake my hand. People confused me with Omar, which I became all too happy to accept, and then I confused myself. After I went home for the day, or even wrapped on a season, I didn’t change out of my costume. I wasn’t ready to get a look at what was underneath.”
