AVC: How much did you interact with David Simon?
MKW: You know it wasn't so much interaction with David. I think [the creators] gave me a lot of trust. They trusted me and my decisions as an actor, and I trusted them and the decisions they made as writers and creators. I would say that Ed Burns was real adamant about being on the set to make sure… You know, we changed directors per episode, and they were really adamant about no one coming in and trying to stylize Omar, like, "It would be cool if he came in and both doors flew open." No, no, no, no, no. Omar would not do that. We know it's a sexy shot, but that's not what Omar would do. Omar's a thinking man, a little smarter than that. Someone could be behind that door and blow his head off. They would just be very adamant about doing not what's good for the camera but what looks good for the reality of this character.
AVC: It's interesting how strict they were with how Omar would be presented.
MKW: Oh very strict, very strict. Once it was established that Omar doesn't use profanity… One time a script got past David and Ed and it had profanity in some of Omar's lines. I was like, "I don't know, let me call this to David: You know Omar say shit, right?" He's like, "Aw fuck, it got by me! Mike, listen to me. I'm very busy. From now on in, if you see any scripts with a curse in it, you omit it. You take it out. Omar does not curse. That does not change."
AVC: The rumor was that they'd written "HE IS NOT EFFEMINATE" in giant letters on the original character breakdown.
MKW: They were clear about that. We just wanted to play the sexuality the way it should be in real life: matter-of-factly. We didn't want to harp on that or make that the main focal point of who or what he was. That clearly was not what you're going to remember this character for. That never changed. Stringer Bell or Marlo would call him a dicksucker or something like that—that was just rolling over his head like it weren't even said. "All right, I'm still going to stick this barrel down your throat. You're still going to suck this gun."
AVC: How did the final episode compare to how you thought the series was going to end?
MKW: It's quite accurate. I think it's spot-on. If you look at the way things have always ended at the end of the season, they never wrap up all the conclusions in a nice little ball and give it to you within your hour, which you expect with the normal television dramas. You can always expect that, by the end of the hour, the bad guy's gonna get caught, the good guy's gonna prevail, hunky dory. Doesn't work that way with The Wire, man. Sometimes the bad guy gets away, sometimes the good guy gets killed, and sometimes the gray guy just stays gray. The Wire always left some things out there. That was part of our solution. This ending has stayed true to the way all the other seasons ended. We didn't do anything special for this ending.
AVC: It seemed less bleak than it could've been.
MKW: Yeah, man, you gotta inject some hope. You can't X out all the hope. We leave it in your hands now. What would you have done? What could you if the situation presented itself in your community? How would you deal with this person that reminds you of one of those characters when they confront you, when you cross their path? That's all we wanted to do, man, was shed light on a situation and give voice to a people that go normally unheard from.
AVC: How will you get away from Omar's shadow?
MKW: I'm not interested in shaking that shadow. I don't believe in typecasting. I think it's a crock. You have to do what you do to get where you wanna go. I always tell everybody that asks me that question: When De Niro first started out, he was doing all those mafia movies. I'm sure Meet The Fockers was the furthest thing from his brain, or what's that other one?
AVC: Analyze This?
MKW: Yeah, he was doing Raging Bull and them groundbreaking films, he wasn't thinking about them roles. He was thinking about keeping it consistent, and keeping his level of respect. Because he knew those roles were closer to him at that point in his career. He stayed with them because that was his best side, and he kept them honest and true and authentic. He built his empire, he built his career, to the point that he could pick and choose and try something new. Right now, I was given an amazing character, an amazing platform, and I'm not interested in shaking the shadow of Omar. He's gonna always be in my heart and mind. And I love what that character and that show has done for me, and what it's shown me and given me the opportunity to do. It's all part of the game. It could be 20 years from now, and somebody could scream out "Omar!" and I'd still say "Yo!" You feel me? I never get tired of that.
AVC: Aside from Spike Lee, you're working with a couple of new directors like Joshua Goldin and Antonia Macia on upcoming projects. How much of a role does the director play in your decision to accept a part? MKW: My theater director, Mel Williams, always said, "Michael, come in with your choices. Be clear as crystal when you get on the set about the choices you have decided to make with this character, but willing to remain open. The director might want to just totally repaint the whole thing." So when I come to the set I try to remain a blank canvas, to give the director the opportunity to bend and shape me. I take myself out of the way and let the process happen, because you got to trust the people you're working with. I never look at the monitor, I never go watch the dailies, or any roll playbacks. If the director says "check the gate," [meaning the director's ready to move to the next shot —ed.] I do "ka-ching," and that's it. You ain't gotta tell me, "Great work, Mike," ain't gotta go and pat my back. Because I know for a fact you are not paid the big bucks to stroke my ego. And when you say "check the gate," it's because you got the shot. So that's my compliment. If you're checking the gate within one or two takes, that's a good feeling for me. That's my compliment, and that means I did a good job. So I just try to sit back and keep Michael Kenneth Williams out of the way.
AVC: Well, finally, do you know of any plans for the next chapters of R. Kelly's Trapped In The Closet?
MKW: Man, whenever Kels call me, I'm there, man. That's my brother. I love that too, man. I had so much fun working with him on that project. He's a classy dude. He's very talented, and I thought Trapped In The Closet was ingenious. I can't wait to go back out there and finish those chapters. I know for a fact he's working on more, but with his schedule and mine, when we get to do it, I don't know. But I know there's gonna be more chapters… Kels is crazy. Robert ain't wrapped too tight.
AVC: What do you think the talent-to-crazy ratio is on him? 50-50? 60-40? 30-70?
MKW: Let me tell you something: He's a muse. The stuff funnels through him, he shits it out like nothing. When we were doing Trapped In The Closet, we'd get there early in the morning, we'd shoot for nothing less than 12 to 15 hours, we'd wrap, and he would go straight to the basketball courts and play basketball for God knows how long. Then around 1, 2, 3 in the morning, he goes down to [his studio] the Chocolate Factory. As we were filming the chapters, he was writing and producing it. If he got an idea and wanted to tweak it, or a lot of times at night he gets a vibe for a song, he'll go down to Chocolate Factory and be in the studio for two or three hours. When he got finished with that, when he got tired, he would get on his tour bus and drive back to the set at like 4 or 5 in the morning, and he would sleep in front of the set on his bus because he knew if he slept in his bed, it might be a problem, know what I mean? He'd sleep on his tour bus right in front of the set, and when the crew and cast got there, they'd call his people and they'd wake him up on the bus. That's how he be, you feel me? The dude is crazy.
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