I had to divorce myself from that fear and just stay focused on what is in front of me and stay true to the character that I'm playing at that particular time and not worry about what I've done in the past or how people will perceive it. But we shot it in Baton Rouge, and it was a brutal shoot. I mean, for obvious reasons, he thinks that the magic is no good. MICHAEL KENNETH WILLIAMS: Yes it has. So we watch him grow up and become not just a man, but his own man. As the show moved on it became more about that than Omar's importance. He did make a season six. I’m glad you find it interesting, but it’s out there. There was a time during one scene, where he was like, ‘Quiet on MY set. These two episodes also shine a spotlight on the deep secrets carried by one of the show's most misunderstood characters: Montrose, the emotionally abusive and headstrong father of lead hero Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors). There was a lot of work in New York at the time. MKW: Um, I can't go into too much now, but I can give you my word that it is definitely happening. Then I went to L.A. on this one way ticket to try to lock a role for an HBO movie Lackawanna Blues, which I did. Every Single Jason Kill in the ‘Friday the 13th’ Franchise Ranked, ‘American Horror Story’ Seasons Ranked, from Worst to Best, I Was Not Emotionally Prepared for ‘The West Wing’ Special on HBO Max, The Best Sequel of Every Horror Franchise, from ‘Scream’ to ‘Halloween’. Montrose is very complex, and throughout most of the season, he's clearly hiding a lot from Atticus. I got a glimpse of how the lives of the people we were portraying in the movie really folds out, over the course of the day, just being at the public library. Michael K. Williams talks about how playing an openly gay character like Omar on The Wire made him question many things in his personal life. It really was. The Man Who Dresses the NBA Will Now Be Dressing You, The Abortion Ministry of Dr. Willie Parker, Bitcoin Wound Up Being Just As Broken as the Corrupt Banking System It Was Trying to Kill, Michael K . This year, Michael will appear alongside Mark Wahlberg in The Gambler. I can tell him to go fuck his British self off, and he won’t get mad or offended. MW: Amazing. While he’s out looking for days, I steal their belongings. I was raised on Benny Hill and The Odd Couple and The Honeymooners. I was on the set thinking they weren’t going to pick me, and then they said something about the scar on my face. I really can't.". People have gotten away from it. IC: It’s an amazing show, Boardwalk Empire. You look at a place like that, for that to be the only place of refuge for the homeless community, it’s telling. Quiet please!’. As Montrose tells Atticus, "I chose life over a damn asylum.". I know these people, they have families, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, aunts and uncles, people who love them, people who they love, just like everybody else. The director had it written in for the character to had lost an eye and had an eye patch. No one left the library for 12 hours, until it was time to wrap. Obviously The Wire and Boardwalk Empire were massive. MKW: You know, I never liked the term "role model" for me. All you can do is hope that people receive it. It’s a really cool character, who says a lot of really cool things — really good dialogue; just revolutionary. Season two, when they made me a series regular, I packed up and moved to Baltimore because I fell in love with the city… it was the best quality of life that I had lived as an adult on my own. However, there are still lots of people who rely on the library. My mom always let me in, but I was going to BMCC [Borough of Manhattan Community College]. You can see in so much of Montrose's dynamic with Atticus. What was important to me was to show that these two men from totally different walks of life who would never cross paths in a normal situation are here now in this common ground and there's a level of respect for one another. Michael K. Williams talks about the final season of Hap and Leonard, his candid friendship with James Purefoy, The Night Of, and why he's drawn to pain. Looking back, I wish I would’ve stopped hurting myself a lot sooner. People can go get a book and use free wifi, and there are clean bathrooms. ESQ: What is it about these "wrong side of the tracks" characters that attracts you so much? I just fell in love with it. He called me back in, read me for the film, and I booked my role for the film, and it was opposite Robert Knepper. I identified with him a lot, so our realities kind of paralleled and merged. People called me Omar and I just went with it. Image via Universal Pictures Content Group. And now that she’s gone, those are some of the best memories that I have of her. People often ask would [writer-producer] David Simon ever make a season six of The Wire, and I would repeat what he always said. I’m one of the leads. IC: I understand that you were actually homeless for a while.