He mmerized on The Wire and Boardwalk Empire, but his gay character on TV as HIV-posive veteran Ken Jon on When We Rise was smooth sailg for the actor and activist.
Contents:
- MICHAEL K. WILLIAMS PHED FOR MORE GAY INTIMACY ON ‘THE WIRE’: ‘YOU KNOW GAY PEOPLE F*CK, RIGHT?’
- MICHAEL K. WILLIAMS FOUGHT FOR TTH OF GAY CHARACTER OMAR THE WIRE
- HOW THE WIRE'S OMAR STAR FOUGHT FOR GAY REPRENTATN IN THE HBO SHOW
- OMAR LTLE ON ‘THE WIRE’ WAS ONE OF TV’S FIRST GAY SUPERHERO
- JUNGLE CISE'S GAY CHARACTER ISN'T PERFECT, BUT HE'S PROGRS
MICHAEL K. WILLIAMS PHED FOR MORE GAY INTIMACY ON ‘THE WIRE’: ‘YOU KNOW GAY PEOPLE F*CK, RIGHT?’
In his new memoir, the Emmy nomee and "Wire" star Michael K. Williams addrsed the portrayal of his gay character Omar. * wire gay character *
The “Lovecraft Country” and “Boardwalk Empire” actor portrayed gay dg aler Omar “The Wire” om 2002 to 2008. “As for Omar’s homosexualy, was groundbreakg 20 years ago, and I adm that at first I was sred to play a gay character, ” Williams penned an excerpt om his memoir “Scen From My Life” -thored wh Jon Sternfeld, via Vulture.
“I thk my ial fear of Omar’s sexualy me om my upbrgg, the muny that raised me, and the stubborn stereotyp of gay characters. Sce Omar was the “oppose of the stereotypil hood typ, ” Williams phed “The Wire” productn to showse all facets of Omar’s life onscreen, cludg his gay relatnships.
MICHAEL K. WILLIAMS FOUGHT FOR TTH OF GAY CHARACTER OMAR THE WIRE
"You know gay people f*ck, right?'" Williams told a director, acrdg to his memoir that was published posthumoly last week. * wire gay character *
I thk the directors were sred, and I said to one of them, ‘You know gay people fuck, right? Williams, who played gay dg aler Omar Ltle on the acclaimed HBO seri The Wire, fought for a full portrayal of Omar's sexualy and relatnships the seri, a new memoir reveals. I thk the directors were sred, and I said to one of them, 'You know gay people f*ck, right?
"I thk he was anx to get before one of changed our mds, " Williams memoir also reveals that Williams had some trepidatn about playg a gay character.
HOW THE WIRE'S OMAR STAR FOUGHT FOR GAY REPRENTATN IN THE HBO SHOW
Fans have been rememberg Michael K Williams' star turn as gay character Omar Ltle The Wire after the actor tragilly died aged 54. * wire gay character *
"As for Omar's homosexualy, was groundbreakg 20 years ago, and I adm that at first I was sred to play a gay character, " he wr. "I thk my ial fear of Omar's sexualy me om my upbrgg, the muny that raised me, and the stubborn stereotyp of gay characters, " explas Williams, rellg that he was lled "Faggot Mike" while growg up.
But, of urse, that’s only part of Williams’ Simon, creator of the show, once told me that whenever someone asked him why he ma Omar gay, he would rpond: Why did we make the other 19 characters straight? It’s a brilliant unterpot, one that nonts whout antagonizg, while touchg on the theme of the first LGBTQ equaly march on Washgton, back 1979: We are clus the ‘ jt didn’t talk about for people to accept the premise that the most feared man one of Baltimore’s most dangero neighborhoods was openly gay, the actor portrayg him had to first breathe life to an asphyxiated versn of Black masculy. Said was “as gay as was Black, not that was exclively eher.
OMAR LTLE ON ‘THE WIRE’ WAS ONE OF TV’S FIRST GAY SUPERHERO
* wire gay character *
It took somethg like Hugh’ poem “Mother to Son” and assumed the le “life for me a’t been no crystal stair” was solely about the impact of racism and not homophobia or a batn of the ’s what ma Williams’ work on the show as transformative as was brgg the character of Omar to life, Williams rurrected aspects of Black queerns that had largely gone missg Black artistry outsi of theater and edians such as Mart Lawrence and Jamie Foxx dog drag on TV.
JUNGLE CISE'S GAY CHARACTER ISN'T PERFECT, BUT HE'S PROGRS
Betiful boyiends who would appear naked bed wh him, makg impossible for viewers not to see his sexualy as part of his Omar on a h show, beg an out and proud gay Black man livg the Black muny, was on par wh seeg Will hang out wh Grace their all-whe one — an experience that Joe Bin once said ntributed to changg attus toward gay people.