Interview with "The Wire"'s Michael K. Williams

AE: What has playing Omar meant to you?
MKW: It's changed my life in a lot of ways. I got to grow up playing Omar on The Wire. He's allowed me to run in circles and to be accepted in places I wouldn't normally be looked at twice. I fell in love with the guy, man. I have to say I've really grown to love that character. In a weird sense, I mourn him too. I've been hanging out with him for six years. I really got to know and love him through connecting with the people of Baltimore and that city. It really gave me a clear insight into who Omar is. He changed my life. I wonder if I'll ever get another role in my career as interesting as he was.

AE: You say he's changed your life, but has he also affected your thinking on what it means to be gay or part of the gay community?
MKW: Oh, totally. But, you know, I never really had an issue with that in any way, with what's gay and what's not. I just took people as who they were, face-to-face value, one-on-one. I never played to that whole stereotype thing at all. The response I have gotten from the gay community has been a lot of admiration for breaking a so-called stereotype and daring to take on that character. I've gotten a lot of support and admiration, which also means a lot to me. I definitely wanted their approval as well, so it meant a lot that the character rang true in every aspect of his life. I wanted it all to be very believable and very honest, and healing in a sense.

AE: Omar was a character that was constantly evolving. What was different about Omar at the end of the series than at the beginning?
MKW: In the beginning, he was Robin Hood, going around robbing drug dealers. Clearly, it wasn't what he was taking, but who he was taking it from. He got a hard-on from that. He went to the gangsterest drug dealer's biggest lair and took all their drugs and money, flushed their drugs down the toilet, and kept their money. That made his day for some reason. That was season one.

By season five, it wasn't about the money or just going after the big-time drug dealers. It became about calling Marlo out, particularly, and making him stand up, man-to-man in the street, one on one, for what he believed in. Basically, it was like, "Man, put the guns down, come out into the street, me and you, one-on-one. Let's box." He took it there. You got that he was fighting for the old school way, for the old rules in a new game. He was the last of a dying breed and wanted to have that remembered and respected by the younger generation, where there clearly was no respect anymore.

AE: What was the significance of switching the cards on the dead bodies at the end of the episode?
MKW: That was just showing you how in trouble the system in Baltimore is — on a wing and a prayer, basically. If he [the morgue attendant] had not heard of Omar, if he had not known that Omar was African-American, Omar's tombstone probably would have had that German's name on it. The system is very fragile, and it's in a lot of trouble. At the end of the day, it's ashes to ashes and dust to dust, but at least get the man's name right, you know?

AE: A few years ago, you did an interview with us and at that time you talked about how sometimes the attitude within the African-American community can be fairly homophobic. Do you feel attitudes have changed at all in the last five years?
MKW: Hell, yeah! Hell yeah! I think Omar may have played a small part in bridging a small piece of the gap in the homophobia in the urban community, in my community. You know when you asked me earlier about how it felt to play a gay character and what Omar is going to be remembered for, no one is going to be talking about who he went to bed with. They're going to be talking about what he stood up for, who he stood up to, and things of that nature.

You've got straight men who are normally homophobic saying they love Omar. They're publicly confessing their love for this openly gay man. It's not because of who he sleeps with, or they're thinking they might be gay, or they're having certain thoughts. It's because of what he stood for, and how he stood up for what he believed in, and who he was, and how he made no apologies and no excuses.

That's the common man's kind of man. He's a man's man, but he's gay. I think that's been huge. That character has played a huge part of beginning the process of the healing and the coming together of a community that segregates us, that whole faggots and straight boys thing. That shit breaks down the community in any race. This character helped to start the healing process. I believe there's an old song, "Live and Let Die"? You know? Just let it be. That character definitely helped begin that process.

AE: And then having someone of the stature of Senator Obama come out and say, "This is my favorite character," that has to being even more attention and respect to an already important character.
MKW: Absolutely. Absolutely.

AE: Which just goes to show the power of a fictional character, so thank you for portraying him with such dignity and complexity.
MKW: It's been an honor. I feel very blessed to have been given a chance to portray that character. I feel like I should be the one saying "Thank you."