In Remembrance: Here Are 10+ Roles Michael K. Williams Starred In

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The Wire (2002-2008)

Probably his most notable role, Williams starred as Omar Little on the Baltimore-based HBO drama series The Wire. On the surface, Little was “a notorious Baltimore stick-up man, who frequently robbed street-level drug dealers.” Still, Williams helped bring the complex character to life for viewers, depicting Little’s intelligence, cunning, homosexuality as a Black man in an inner-city environment. Throughout his time on the show, he received two Image Award nominations for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series in 2007 and 2009.

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Boardwalk Empire (2010-2014)

Following his time on The Wire, Williams also starred in HBO’s Boardwalk Empire as Chalk White, an ex-boxer and “de facto” Mayor of Atlantic City’s African-American community who ran a major bootlegging operation for Nucky — a gangster and politician who’s the show’s protagonist. Boardwalk Empire is a critically acclaimed series to this day, and Williams’ role as White landed him several nominations and awards both as an actor and as a member of the cast.

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12 Years A Slave (2013)

MADAMENOIRE reported several years ago, that playing the character of Robert in 2013’s 12 Years A Slave was unimaginably taxing on Williams. The actor shared a particularly rough day of filming, 

There was a scene unfortunately it didn’t make the film…We were shooting this scene where my character Roberts is being dragged to the slave ship and he was revolting, he was frailing, he was going crazy. Around the fifth time that we shot it, Steve yelled cut and something came over me I don’t know what it was…I fell to the ground, I couldn’t stop crying and screaming…I couldn’t even get up off the floor. It was surreal

The stunt coordinator he got on the floor with me, white man and he cradled me in his arms, and he rocked me and he kept saying, ‘It’s okay Mike let it out, let it out.’ And I screamed at the top of lungs, for what must’ve seemed like 15, 20 minutes. Like a cloud passed over me and I got up..I was like okay let’s go. I think what happened to me was that I was given a glimpse into what out ancestors must’ve went through.

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Inherent Vice (2014)

As the character of Tariq Khalil, Williams starred in Inherent Vice alongside a star-studded cast including Joaquin Phoenix, Katherine Waterstone, Owen Wilson, Martin Short, Reese Witherspoon, Maya Rudolph and more. The neo-noir crime film received numerous nominations and a cast win of the Robert Altman Award at the 2015 Film Independent Spirit Awards.

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Bessie (2015)

In HBO’s TV film Bessie, Williams starred as Jack Gee, the husband of legendary blues musician Bessie Smith, who was played by Queen Latifah. The film went onto gain numerous nominations and awards, including several Primetime Emmy wins, a Critics’ Choice TV Award, a Director’s Guild of America Award, a GLAAD Media Award, and more. In his own right, IMDB reports that Williams was nominated for an Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie at the Emmys, Black Reel Awards, Image Awards, and Satellite Awards, respectively. He also landed a Best Performance nomination from the Vision Awards.

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The Night Of (2016)

Based on the BBC series Criminal Justice, Williams’ role as Freddy Knight in the TV miniseries The Night Of scored the late star and Outstanding Supporting Actor nominations at the Primetime Emmys and at the Black Reel Awards. The show itself, another HBO production, received an Outstanding Cinematography Award and several other honors and nominations following its release. 

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When The Bough Breaks (2016)

Alongside other industry vets like Morris Chestnut, Regina Hall and Romany Malco, Williams’ performance in When The Bough Breaks tantalizingly depicted the story of “A surrogate mom for a couple becomes dangerously obsessed with the soon-to-be father.”

RELATED CONTENT: “9 Things You Didn’t Know About The Making Of When The Bough Breaks”

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When They See Us (2019)

Directed by Ava DuVernay, Williams played Bobby McCray, the father of one of the young men tragically convicted in the Central Park Five case, Antron McCray. As seen in the film, Bobby had played a part in getting his son to sign a false confession, later pinning Antron to the crime despite his otherwise maintained innocence.

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Lovecraft Country (2020)

Williams scored his fifth Emmy nomination playing the role of Montrose Freeman, Atticus Freeman’s father, in HBO’s TV series Lovecraft Country. The actor talked extensively about how the role took an immense toll on his mental health and how he needed therapy afterward. Deadline reports that when speaking about the role, Williams shared that playing Montrose forced him to become in tune with some internalized traumas within himself.

“What Montrose, and his journey and Lovecraft Country did for me was that it got me in touch with my deeper trauma,” the actor noted. “I know that I have trauma with my past experiences of life – things that have happened to me, things that I have done, bad choices. I live that and I’m working through it.”

Moreover, Williams shared that playing Montrose made him aware of the necessary steps he needed to take in order to tackle generational and familial issues, “blood trauma,” which he connected back to slavery.

In response to the news of his passing, The Hollywood Reporter shared a statement released by HBO that read:

“We are devastated to learn of the passing of Michael Kenneth Williams, a member of the HBO family for more than 20 years. While the world is aware of his immense talents as an artist, we knew Michael as a dear friend who was beloved by all who had the privilege to work with him. We send our deepest condolences to his family for this immeasurable loss.”