Michael K. Williams on ‘The Wire’: I Wanted More Gay Scen for Omar – IndieWire

Contents:

• MICHAEL K. WILLIAMS PHED FOR MORE GAY INTIMACY ON ‘THE WIRE’: ‘YOU KNOW GAY PEOPLE F*CK, RIGHT?’
• OMAR LTLE ON ‘THE WIRE’ WAS ONE OF TV’S FIRST GAY SUPERHERO
• MICHAEL K. WILLIAMS PHED FOR MORE TIMATE GAY SCEN FOR OMAR ON THE WIRE: 'WE SHOULD GO ALL '
• HOW THE WIRE'S OMAR STAR FOUGHT FOR GAY REPRENTATN IN THE HBO SHOW
• THE WIRE’S MICHAEL K WILLIAMS OPENED UP ABOUT BEG ‘SRED TO PLAY GAY CHARACTER’ BEFORE HIS ATH
• JAGUARS STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT AS GAY

MICHAEL K. WILLIAMS PHED FOR MORE GAY INTIMACY ON ‘THE WIRE’: ‘YOU KNOW GAY PEOPLE F*CK, RIGHT?’

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.

OMAR LTLE ON ‘THE WIRE’ WAS ONE OF TV’S FIRST GAY SUPERHERO

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 PHED FOR MORE TIMATE GAY SCEN FOR OMAR ON THE WIRE: 'WE SHOULD GO ALL '

I thk the directors were sred, and I said to one of them, ‘You know gay people fuck, right?

I remember readg articl (that’s what we ed to ll thkpiec, child) the queer prs eagerly applyg that sipid and blandly normalizg phrase “who happens to be gay” to Omar, as if were a prize medal.

In season one, for example, dg-aler Avon Barksdale puts a price on Omar’s head – and upon learng that Omar is gay, promptly doubl .

HOW THE WIRE'S OMAR STAR FOUGHT FOR GAY REPRENTATN IN THE HBO SHOW

It was that the show never treated the outward signs of gayns as somethg Rickie should be ashamed of, or as thgs the dience should take as symbols for gayns wr-large. There was a specificy to the character that allowed him to move beyond the kd of didacticism "very special episos" featurg gay characters had long been rced to.

Through all, she blew up suffotg gay stereotyp. Buffy The Vampire Slayer didn't portray her as broken or wicked bee she was gay, but bee she was pa, and a pa that dienc uld unrstand stead of judge.

THE WIRE’S MICHAEL K WILLIAMS OPENED UP ABOUT BEG ‘SRED TO PLAY GAY CHARACTER’ BEFORE HIS ATH

When Ellen Man says, "I'm gay" to an airport gate microphone, what she was really sayg was, "You loved me five mut ago, and I'm still the same person. For me, Jack's refal to be anythg but himself, to give anyone the power to huiate him, was credibly powerful to watch not only as a small gay child, but as a medium-sized gay adult too. "I celebrate T Andromedon: a fat, femme, gay Black man, who liv unflchgly and joyfully his every moment onscreen.

We n never unrtimate the importance of seeg gay, lbian, bi, trans, asexual, tersex and genr nonnformg people on TV.

For those who didn't realize they knew a gay person real life, Will was their gateway to nnectg wh the LGBTQ+ muny. Hall Episos: 63 (2001 - 2005) "David was one of the first three-dimensnal portrayals of a gay man on mastream televisn.

JAGUARS STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT AS GAY

Uptight, fty, and exceptnally private, David's gay inty certaly rmed his character, but wasn't the entirety of -- a rary for the early days of prtige televisn. Williams, Omar reprents the transn om the sexls sats of gay TV past to the flawed, plited characters who n simply exist. Kurt Hummel Show: Glee Performer: Chris Colfer Episos: 121 (2009 - 2015) Ryan Murphy's visn for Glee clud, among many (MANY) other thgs, takg on issu of gay acceptance and teen bullyg, and while not the only gay character on the show, Kurt was the vsel through which Murphy's msag were most often livered.