Michael K. Williams Wished ‘The Wire’ Went ‘All In’ on Omar’s Intimacy: ‘You Know Gay People F—, Right?’
Ethan Shanfeld Portraying openly gay stickup man Omar on HBO’s widely acclaimed “The Wire,” Michael K. Williams offered a fresh portrait of masculinity that was considered revolutionary at the time.
But according to the late actor’s memoir, “Scenes of My Life,” Williams pushed “The Wire” to go further in terms of portraying Omar’s intimacy with his boyfriend Brandon Wright (Michael Kevin Darnall). “In regards to Omar and his lover Brandon, it seemed like everyone was dancing around their intimacy issue,” Williams wrote (via Vulture). “There was lots of touching hair and rubbing lips and things like that.
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?'” While Williams, who died of a drug overdose at age 54 last year, did not identify as gay, he mentioned in his memoir that he was called “Faggot Mike” growing up.
The book, co-written by Jon Sternfeld, details Williams’ initial fears about playing a gay character onscreen. “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,” Williams wrote. “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.
