It is hard to fully comprehend that he has gone, but it has been almost a year since the legendary actor Michael K. Williams passed. A shining light that was taken far too soon from this world, there was just so much he brought to life. As put best by his fellow The Wire actor and close friend Wendell Pierce, he was an “immensely talented man with the ability to give voice to the human condition portraying the lives of those whose humanity is seldom elevated until he sings their truth.” Nowhere was this more true than when he first blew us away in the show as Omar Little, the Robin Hood of Baltimore's west side projects. It was because of the mesmerizing screen presence of Williams that the character remains such a memorable one, an indelible part of the show’s legacy 20 years later. To mark this anniversary, we would all be remiss if we didn't highlight his lasting impact.
The performance remains one of the best of not just the show, but of television as a whole. When Williams stepped into Little’s shoes, the man he was vanished into the role, as he fully embodied every aspect of Omar Little. From the confident manner in which he carried himself as he walked down the street to his resolute expression, his sheer magnetism and charisma made him a bright spot amidst the darkness of the show.
When he would walk down the street with his duster flowing behind him like a low-key superhero cape, you believed it when everyone would scatter and try to warn others of his arrival. Yet he would walk with calm ease as if he was just going for a stroll without a care in the world about what people thought.
Of course, everyone else cared every moment he came on screen. Both us as an audience and the characters were completely struck by the gun-toting Little, a testament to just how much Williams could command a scene. He captured all the nuances of the man and details of his code in every facet of his performance. The way he spoke carried such a riveting resonance that it ensured each line would forever stick in your mind. There is a reason lines like "You come at the king, you best not miss" stands out. Sure, it is killer writing that packs gravitas and grit, but it would be nothing without Williams to bring it home. Even when we only catch glimpses of the actor in these moments, his existence lingered over everything. His presence carried with it a weight that instilled each scene with a gravity that would be deeply lacking without him. An irreplaceable performer, he made the character and show what it is.
This was felt not just in the big scenes that saw him at his most intimidating, but in the more quiet ones as well. He could be deeply funny, like when he disguised himself as an older man with a cap, wig, and shades, who was being assisted by a wheelchair. There was no pinning him down as he was constantly challenging our expectations for him. In these scenes, Williams brought humanity and heart to the character that made him more complicated with each passing episode. He projected strength alongside Little’s softer side, defying any constraints about what he could be as a character. The machismo of his external persona masked a more tender internal self, something Williams captured with ease as he played an openly gay character. He created a complex person from the ground up, eschewing what could have been a one-dimensional portrait to become a far more emotionally deep one that deserves all the praise imaginable. We didn’t know how lucky we were to get to see him put on an acting masterclass week after week, an achievement he made look easy.
One scene, in particular, brings this into clarity and that is when Little took the stand. Even as his character is being grilled and under scrutiny, Williams played him as being so unbothered and with a convincing edge that gets you chuckling just as you can’t look away. That he is able to win over a jury with his wit and charm, despite an attorney attempting to reduce him to being an untrustworthy criminal, is believable because of just how good Williams is. Even with a carefree manner where he is slouched back and almost disinterested in everything that is playing out, you can’t escape the feeling that he is completely in control of everything around him. With even just a quick interjection he changes the entire trajectory of the scene, throwing the words of an attorney right back down his throat with an audaciousness that is as stunning as it is scintillating. He was a perpetually profound performer at every turn.
You could pick out any scene from his entire run on the show and strike gold. His performance was a nonstop run of iconic moments that just never let up, precisely because he was an equally iconic actor. It is easy to see why he was selected for the part after only one audition as there was no one else that could have given such a performance. Williams could reinvigorate anything he touched and this was the moment the world realized what he had to offer. It is worth revisiting for him alone, a time capsule of his dynamic persona that has stood the test of time. Even in a show that has more than its fair share of strong characters, there is no one that is able to hold a candle to what Williams did. He would illuminate every single scene he was in, making it crackle with an energy that remains as arresting as ever. He was a talent that was gone far too soon though his legacy lives on in every moment he graced the screen. He was one of the very best to ever do it, in The Wire and everywhere else.