If there is an unforgettable character in ‘The Wire’ (and almost from the first golden age of HBO), that is Omar Little. The character played by the deceased (just a year ago) Michael K Williams He broke several stereotypes as the thief dedicated to throwing out the dealers that invade the streets of Baltimore.
A charismatic and violent characters whose homosexuality He broke molds on television in the 2000s. But it is one thing for a character to be gay and another to pose intimate homosexual scenes on screen, something that Williams fought to show from day one in the excellent series of David Simon and Ed Burns.
Omar’s life
This is how he reflects it in ‘Scenes from my life‘, the actor’s memoirs whose excerpt we can read in Vulture. In that part of the book, Williams tells the conscious which was that the character could change his life and how he dealt with the only “doubt” he had about him.
«About Omar’s homosexuality, he was a transgressor 20 years ago, and I admit that at first I was afraid to play a gay character. I remember helping my mom by packing groceries into her apartment by telling her about this new role. I knew from the beginning that he was going to be something fat. “This character is going to change my career,” I said. “But the point is—I hesitated—that he’s openly gay.” My mother was as conservative as she was and I was worried that she wasn’t there at all.
“Well, baby,” she said, “that’s the life you’ve chosen and I support it.” She hadn’t accepted the arts or my interest in them but to me, that was her version of cheering me on. I took it for what it was. I think my initial fear about Omar’s sexuality came from my upbringing, the community that raised me, and the stubborn stereotypes of gay characters. Once I realized that Omar wasn’t effeminate, that he didn’t have to talk or walk in a quirky way, a lot of that fear went away.”
In addition, he tells how he saw that it was also necessary to “go for it all” with the interpretation of his character, aware that at that time there was a certain discomfort around what to capture and what not on the screen. He was clear about it, they couldn’t stay in a touch here and there.
“As for Omar and his lover Brandon (played by Michael Kevin Darnall), it seemed like everyone was buzzing around their theme of intimacy. There was a lot of hair touching and lip stroking and stuff like that. I felt if we were going to do that we should go all out. I think the directors were scared and I said to one of them, “You know gays fuck, right?”
It didn’t take long, because we were in the first episodes of the first season of the series when, with this in mind, Williams approached Michael at one point to tell him that it was time to move on with Omar and Brandon… and the next step was for them to kiss, something practically unheard of on American television.
«He signed up. “Okay, but don’t tell me when you’re going to do it. Make it spontaneous so it looks natural. Go for it.” We got called in for rehearsal and the crew was still setting up the set, putting the lights and cameras on what we were doing. When I went and kissed Michael on the lips, everyone stopped what they were doing and their jaws dropped. Twenty years ago men, especially black men, did not kiss on television. I’m not saying it was weird; I say it didn’t happen.”
Something that, in fact, only seemed to be seen on HBO at the time, which was already in ‘Oz’ quite prone to sex scenes (whether consented or not) among the inmates of Oswald’s maximum security prison. Returning to Baltimore, Williams resumes the story telling the reaction of Clark Johnson, director of that episode.
“The director, Clark Johnson, was on a staircase and said, ‘Hey, hey, hey, wait.’ He actually wasn’t looking the first time but he heard the sound of lips and maybe felt the team’s reaction: “Do it again.” We made the scene and kissed again. “You are brave sons of bitches,” he said. “Okay, let’s get it.” The entire team dropped what they were doing and recorded. I think he was eager to catch it before one of us changed our minds.”