Michael K. Williams Michael Kenneth Williams is an American actor
best known for his portrayal of Omar Little on the HBO drama series The Wire, and of Albert
"Chalky" White on HBO's Boardwalk Empire. Life and career
Born in Brooklyn, to an African American father from South Carolina and a Bahamian mother
from Nassau, Michael K. Williams was raised in the Flatbush Gardens housing projects in
East Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York City and attended George Westinghouse Career and Technical
Education High School. According to a DNA analysis, he is descended partly from the
Mende people of Sierra Leone. After getting in some trouble as a youth,
he enrolled at the National Black Theatre in New York City. He later got a job at a
pharmaceutical company. Inspired by Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814, he left school
and quit his job, against the wishes of his family, to pursue a career as a dancer. During
a year in which he was intermittently homeless, Williams visited record labels and dance studios
looking for work. He got a job as a background dancer on a music tour for Kym Sims' dance
anthem Too Blind To See It, which led to more work appearing as a dancer in videos and on
tours, such as with George Michael, Madonna, as well as some modeling work. He also choreographed
Crystal Waters' 1994 single 100% Pure Love. He was given one of his first acting roles
after being discovered by Tupac Shakur and was cast as High Top, the brother and henchman
to Shakur's drug kingpin Tank, in the 1996 film Bullet.
Williams is well known for his large facial scar, which he received during a bar fight
on Jamaica Avenue on his 25th birthday in which he was slashed with a razor blade. The
scar led to his being offered roles as a thug in music videos. He eventually embraced the
scar, citing Seal's scarred face as an inspiration. His scar became his signature and earned him
photo shoots with noted photographers like David LaChapelle.
The Wire Williams is known for his portrayal of Omar
Little in The Wire, which began filming in 2002. The character was based on Donnie Andrews,
as well as other crime figures in Baltimore. Williams received the part after only a single
audition. He was initially told that the character was slated to appear in just seven episodes
of the first season and feared that the character would be killed before the end of the season.
However, creator David Simon stated that they always planned to keep the character as part
of the continuing ensemble should the show be renewed beyond the first season.
For his portrayal of Omar, Williams was named by USA Today as one of ten reasons they still
love television. The character was praised for his uniqueness in the stale landscape
of TV crime dramas and for the wit and humor that Williams brings to the portrayal. Omar
has been named as one of the first season's richest characters, a Robin Hood of Baltimore's
west side projects. The Baltimore City Paper named the character one of their top ten reasons
not to cancel the show and called him "arguably the show’s single greatest achievement".
In 2007 he was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series
for his role as Omar. Williams pursued the role because he was intrigued
by the character's contradictory nature. He felt the character's popularity stemmed from
his honesty, lack of materialism, individuality and his adherence to his strict code. He feels
that the role has been a breakthrough in terms of bringing attention to him and getting further
roles. Williams has received both positive and negative reactions to the character's
homosexuality and feels that he is successful in challenging attitudes and provoking discussion
with the role. During the previous year, before the third season, he discovered Felicia Pearson
(Snoop) in a Baltimore bar. In 2008, then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama cited
The Wire as his favorite television show, and called Omar Little his favorite character.
About Omar, Obama said, "That’s not an endorsement. He's not my favorite person, but he's a fascinating
character... he's the toughest, baddest guy on the show."
Williams suffered from an identity crisis during his portrayal of Omar Little, going
by his character's name, and developed an addiction to cannabis and cocaine in 2004.
Other work Williams had a recurring role on J. J. Abrams'
Alias. He also had a recurring role on Abrams' produced Six Degrees. He has also made brief
appearances on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (playing two different characters on two different
seasons), Boston Legal, The Sopranos, Law & Order (playing three different characters
on three different seasons), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (also playing two different
characters on two different seasons), Human Giant and Third Watch.
Williams makes a brief appearance as the shooter at the beginning of the music video for Young
Jeezy's "Bury Me a G". He appeared in The Kill Point as recurring
guest star Q, a police sniper alongside The Wire co-stars J.D. Williams, Michael Hyatt
and Leo Fitzpatrick. He auditioned for the starring role of Mr. Cat but was forced to
take a smaller role due to scheduling conflicts; the part of Mr. Cat went to J.D. Williams
instead. Williams played a Boston area detective named Devin Amronklin in the 2007 film Gone,
Baby, Gone. The film is based on a novel by Dennis Lehane, who has written for The Wire,
and was adapted and directed by Ben Affleck. Amronklin is a recurring character in Lehane's
Kenzie-Genarro series of books. Williams says that he enjoyed working with Affleck and characterized
him as a passionate and hands-on director. The film also featured his co-star from The
Wire, Amy Ryan. He played Teddy, the former boyfriend of Nikki
Tru (Kerry Washington) in the Chris Rock film I Think I Love My Wife. He played James, a
policeman, in singer R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet". He also appeared in The Game's
"Dreams" and "How We Do" music videos, Tony Yayo's "It's a Stick Up" music video and Cam'ron's
film Killa Season, as well as Trick Daddy's video "Tuck Your Ice In", Sheek Louch's "Good
Love", and Young Jeezy's "Bury me a G" alongside his The Wire co-star Hassan Johnson. Williams
played the role of The Thief in the 2009 film The Road, an adaptation of the Cormac McCarthy
novel of the same name. In 2010, Williams appeared in the film Life During Wartime.
The character he played, Allen, was portrayed by Philip Seymour Hoffman in the film's predecessor,
Happiness. Williams also starred in the film A Day in
the Life, which was directed, produced and stars rapper Sticky Fingaz. The entire film
is a musical with every line being delivered in rap verse. Williams stars on HBO's Boardwalk
Empire. As of 2010, he appears as Albert "Chalky" White, the leader of 1920s Atlantic City's
black community. On July 23, 2011, Community creator Dan Harmon
revealed that Williams would star in "at least three episodes" of the sitcom's third season.
He plays the role of Biology Professor Marshall Kane at Greendale Community College. In November
2011, it was announced that Quentin Tarantino has written a new character into the script
of his new film Django Unchained. Williams, who had previously confirmed that he was actually
in talks with Tarantino to take on the titular role of Django, was to portray a minor character
in the film, but scheduling conflicts with Boardwalk Empire prevented him from doing
so. On May 16, 2012, Williams announced that he
is an executive producer of the independent film Snow On Tha Bluff, Williams' first film
under his company, Freedome Productions. On Power 105.1fm's The Breakfast Club, Williams
revealed the June 19th release date for Snow on tha Bluff, describing the movie as "real
graphic": "everything that is wrong with the 'hood is in this movie".Williams also shared
on 105.1The Breakfast Club that he is starring in an African American western "They Die By
Dawn" with his co-star Snoop from the HBO series "The Wire". Williams also dropped a
bomb revealing that he is starring in the lead role as Ol'Dirty Bastard from the Wu-Tang
Clan in the movie Dirty Whiteboy in 2014. Which is based on the relationship ODB had
with his manager during the last 2 years of his life. Williams mentioned the piece was
special to Ol'Dirty Bastard (ODB) because he grew up listening to him and to Wu-Tang
and he is also a Brooklyn native. Filmography
Film Mugshot (1995)
Bullet (1996) Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
Broke even (2000) Doing Hard Time (2004)
Guile (2005) Trapped in the Closet (Chapters 1-12)" (2005)
The Orphan King (2005) Belly 2: Millionaire Boyz Club (2006)
The Bondage (2006) Mercenary for Justice (2006)
5up 2down (2006) Trapped in the Closet (Chapters 13-22) (2007)
Trapped in the Closet: The BIG Package (2007) I Think I Love My Wife (2007)
Gone Baby Gone (2007) The Incredible Hulk (2008)
KeAnthony: A Hutlaz Story (2008) Miracle at St. Anna (2008)
Tell-Tale (2009) Addicts (2009)
The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll (2009) A Day in the Life (2009)
Life During Wartime (2009) A Kiss of Chaos (2009)
You're Nobody 'til Somebody Kills You (2009) The Road (2009)
Wonderful World (2009) Brooklyn's Finest (2010)
The Cookout 2 (2011) Bayou Black (2011) Short
Luv (2012) Crispus Attucks: Today was a Good Day (2012)
Short W8 (Weight) (2012) Short
The Wire: The Musical (2012) Short Nobody's Nobody's (2012) Short
Trapped in the Closet: The Next Installment (Chapters 23-33) (2012)
12 Years a Slave (2013) Snitch (2013)
They Die by Dawn (2013) short The Devil Goes Down (2013) short
RoboCop (2014) The Purge: Anarchy (2014)
Kill the Messenger (2014) Inherent Vice (2014)
Da Sweet Blood of Jesus (2014) The Gambler (2015)
Television Law & Order (1997, 2001, 2009) (three episodes)
Deadline (2001) (one episode) The Sopranos (2001) (one episode)
Third Watch (2002) (one episode) The Wire (2002–2008) (forty-two episodes)
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2003, 2006) (two episodes)
Lackawanna Blues (2005) (television film) Alias (2005) (three episodes)
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2005, 2010) (two episodes)
Boston Legal (2005) (one episode) Six Degrees (2006–2007) (three episodes)
The Kill Point (2007) (seven episodes) Human Giant (2008) (one episode)
CSI: NY (2008) (one episode)101/V The Philanthropist (2009) (eight episodes)
Boardwalk Empire 2010-present (series regular) Detroit 1-8-7 (2011)
Aqua Teen Hunger Force (2011) (one episode) Community (2011–2012)
Walk This Way (2013) (7 episodes) High School USA! (2013) (1 episode)
Video games Battlefield 4 (2013)