Michael K. Williams, the actor who earned widespread acclaim for his portrayal of Omar Little in 'The Wire' and Chalky White in 'Boardwalk Empire' star, has died at age 54
But Williams rose to fame for his portrayal of Omar Little, the confident, shotgun-wielding character inwho robbed drug dealers in his trademark duster and became one of the show’s standout stars. Despite his role initially only written for one season, he appeared in all five seasons of the celebrated show from 2002-2008.
“I’d been concerned about how my community were willing to receive me playing such an openly gay character,” Williams told “It works because Omar doesn’t apologize for who he is; he doesn’t try to hide it. He’s a standard dude with morals and a code … That’s all we want to be around: real people. We may not agree with each other’s lifestyles, but if a person is upfront about who they are, they gain respect.”Boardwalk Empire.
Williams had been open about his past battles with substance abuse and had talked about relapsing multiple times throughout his life. “There were certain things that I normalized [growing up]; the violence and the murder,” he toldlast year. “And how much [police] criminalize adolescent behavior. My issues went another way and that took me down the road of chronic abuse. I can’t say I came out of the neighborhood unscathed. You’re either using or selling. I was a user.
As people of color in Hollywood, entertainment, a lot of times we don’t pay attention to the fact that we sell trauma.”
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