No. /18 Farewell to a smallscreen titan
1 OMAR LITTLE THE WIRE (2002-2008)
Some of the most memorable scenes from The Wire, David Simon’s superlative, sprawling, Baltimore-set crime drama, begin quietly and ordinarily. It’s just another day in the projects.
Hustlers on street corners, kids playing in the street. And then the relative peace is disturbed by a single whistle. When Omar Little starts chirping ‘A-Hunting We Will Go’, the smart thing to do is scarper.
It’s rare that one character can inspire such fear and respect among nearly all who encounter him, but in the hands of Michael K. Williams, it never feels unearned. He is a formidable, utterly charismatic presence in his breakthrough television role as a shotgun-wielding stick-up artist, a modern-day Robin Hood who lives his life by robbing the ’hood. His character was originally conceived for just seven episodes; he ultimately appeared in 51, across all five seasons.
Williams — who had only a handful of acting credits before being cast — brought his own experiences of growing up in the projects of Brooklyn to the role, and admitted the lines between him and Omar “got a little grey”. But his performance enriched and deepened the character, imbuing tenderness and warmth to a cold-blooded killer —a man who looks after his grandmother, and holds a special place in his heart for Honey Nut Cheerios. It was Williams who encouraged the writers to stop tiptoeing around Omar’s sexuality (“I knew that dude was gay,” he later said), and who opted to have an unscripted kiss with co-star Michael Kevin Darnall in an early episode, surprising his director.