Creme Magazine

From East Flatbush to Hollywood

By dominga martin

Michael K. Williams stepped onto THE WIRE with a vengeance—playing a character (OMAR) that held no prisoners and confronted the discomfort in parts of the world when it comes to same sex relationships, black men in America and an underworld some people still live daily—the drug world.

It’s a real epidemic that goes on across America, in inner cities where the less fortunate are left to fend for themselves and find ways to survive whether morally or with a “do or die” mentality. Young black men and girls are still dying to senseless violence all over the world, and Michael has been doing his part to bring the truth to light in a show that exposes the system, the streets and the murder capital of the world—Baltimore, MD.

At interview time, Michael K. Williams didn’t know if The Wire’s 5th season would be renewed. He was on a new found journey—working on a new show 6th Degrees, brought to you by the super producers of Lost & Alias. He’s also riding high off of two major films: “I think I love my Wife” his first comedy directed by Chris Rock and “Gone Baby Gone” a film where he stars opposite critically acclaimed actor Morgan Freeman—and also marks Ben Affleck’s directorial debut.

Mr. Williams is busy these days, and although he’s living out a suitcase, he took sometime to speak with me as he was riding down a highway…heading into his new found success.

DM: So I know a lot of people must ask you; why did you have to kill Stringer?

Michael K. Williams (MKW): It’s a relevant question if you’re a fan of the story line and follow the characters. You know the code of the streets and the game of the streets, so, being that Stringer broke the code of the streets, it’s something that came to life in the script.

DM: On the last episode of season 3 it seems as if Omar was a bit remorseful.

MKW: He was in a weird place. I would say he was at the crossroads--he was at the point of his life where he would question who was in his life? What was he doing with his life? He wasn’t happy. Dante was his soul-mate and then it was a situation where he took the death of the young lady, who was killed in the robbery/shoot-out, really hard [because] Omar is the type of person who looks out for his crew and to get caught slippin’ was very hard for him—so he was very remorseful and introspective. I think he was questioning; what does this all mean for him?

DM: So what can we expect from Omar for this season?

MKW: He’s more focused, he’s in a new relationship and very happy in the new relationship [and] that’s about it. (LAUGHTER!)

DM: Can you tell me anymore?

MKW: Nah (LAUGHTER!)

DM: How do you tap into playing a gangster that you love to hate?

MKW: I don’t really know that I love to hate Omar, you know? I know a lot of those personalities—I grew up with those personalities--some are my child hood friends who are still my friends today. I don’t know if I love to hate him--I understand them. I mean, I know people who live that lifestyle and I don’t know if I hate them.

DM: At the end of the day, I feel like THE WIRE is such a political and emotional show. How do you find self at the end of the day? Do you feel those emotions when you’re on set [because] it definitely is a reality.

MKW: At first I didn’t know what the hell was going on because I didn’t understand why I was feeling a certain away. I didn’t realize how much it took for me to go there mentally, and then I realized how much it was taking a toll on me. Now that I realize it, I talk about it with co-workers to discuss those feelings and talk through it, and that helps out a lot. I try to hook up with friends and family to get back into a familiar vibration and in my regular life.

DM: On the brighter side, you have a lot of stuff going on…

MKW: Yes! I can’t complain, I am trying to be Michael Williams right now.

DM: Tell me about the movies and shows that you’re working on right now.

MKW: I am on a new show on ABC called 6 Degrees (Thursdays at 10pm) It’s a hellafied line up. I am really excited to be in there at that time. We have a great cast. I play the older brother to Dorian Missick and we’re each other’s storyline.

I just filmed a movie in Boston, “Gone Baby Gone” which was Ben Affleck’s directorial debut. He had me in some stellar company; Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, even his little brother Casey Affleck who I think is a cool ass dude to hang out with—we just wrapped that up a month ago, which should be out sometime next year.

Right before that, I did another film which Chris Rock has written—I have a great part in there, playing with Kerry Washington. Oh and I have a hellafied episode coming on Law and Order SVU sometime in November…it’s a gangster role, you know…it pays the bills.

DM: I’m really excited for you—how do you wind down at the end of the day with everything that you’re doing?

MKW: I don’t know if I’ve taken time to wind down, my schedule is too crazy. I just try to stay focused and go with the flow to enjoy this view. You feel me?

At press time: HBO has renewed THE WIRE for a 5th Season.

5 Minutes With Jaime Hector, Felicia Pearson & Chad Coleman:

I am a fan of THE WIRE…and a few characters that have grown to be the most fascinating are newcomers: Jaime Hector…who returns as MARLO, along with his ruthless crew, which includes cold blooded murderess: Felicia Pearson, (SNOOP) and Chad Coleman (CUTTY), who is still trying to regain his life after getting out of prison.

We had a chance to meet them at a recent “Meet & Greet” at 40/40 in NYC. Here’s what they had to say about their characters on THE WIRE:

Jaime Hector (MARLO): The way I get into character is by listening to MOP, Jay-Z (the entire Black album), Nas and then to just be silent and observant.

On his new project:

Jaime Hector (MARLO): I play in a new film called Black Out. My character’s name is RASHEED, a problem guy in the neighborhood, loud, obnoxious—the opposite of Marlo. He causes a lot of drama…

Felicia Pearson (SNOOP): I am a tomboy, so it was nothing for me to adapt to the script. I am originally from Baltimore so I am happy one of us made it.

On her big break:

Felicia Pearson (SNOOP): I met Michael K. Williams (Omar) at a club in Baltimore…we became good friends and he brought me to the writers and producers of the show. After 2 auditions, I got the role. It’s somewhat of a dream because I wanted to be a teacher, now I am ready to take on whatever: gangster roles, feminine roles…This is my career now and what I want to do.

Chad Coleman (CUTTY): My character represents hope and redemption. I believe CUTTY is a powerful representation of what goes on in the hood when you’re trying to get your life together. He’s on the middle ground of young men after prison. I feel blessed to represent that group’s voice that needs to be heard because it’s the truth. He is trying to reach his full potential as a human being when it’s all about survival and he doesn’t want to be illegal anymore.

The Black Dahlia

A suspense thriller about the most infamous unsolved murder in Los Angeles

Master storyteller Brian De Palma, director of such classic crime dramas as Scarface, The Untouchables and Carlito’s Way, and suspense thrillers Carrie, Dressed to Kill and Blow Out, films screenwriter Josh Friedman’s (War of the Worlds) adaptation of James Ellroy’s classic novel. Known for his works’ multilayered themes of unrestrained passions, doppelgangers, vivid violence and ruinous obsessions—motifs and throughlines he shares with Ellroy—De Palma would become the most likely of filmmakers to finally bring the tragic, lurid tale to the screen.

For nearly 60 years, one story has captivated the horrified imagination of a city and inspired scores of newspaper, book and screenplay writers to ponder the dark, diabolical impulses of humanity. This cautionary tale has served as warning to wide-eyed starlets who come west to chase their dreams of Tinseltown. And it all began with an unremarkable girl hungry for stardom.

In life, she was called Elizabeth “Betty” Short, a 22-year-old aspiring actress from the East Coast who wore a delicate flower in her raven hair and became many things to many people—dear friend, beloved sister, estranged daughter, frequent girlfriend and accused prostitute.

On January 15, 1947, she was discovered brutally splayed in a vacant lot near Leimert Park in downtown Los Angeles. Naked, cut in half at the waist, her organs were removed and blood drained from her small body in an attack so grisly that most images were kept from the public. Her killer had bludgeoned her, sodomized her and slit her mouth from ear to ear in a sickening, clownish grin. False accusations and confessions still abound, and Betty’s remains one of the most gruesome, unsolved homicides in the City of Angels’ history.

In death, she would become newly christened and forever remembered as The Black Dahlia.

Forty years after her killing, crime novelist Ellroy (“L.A. Confidential,” “American Tabloid”) wrote “The Black Dahlia,” a best-selling whodunit with Betty’s murder as its crux and boom-era L.A. as its backdrop. Weaving a story of obsession, body doubles and those who became fixated on the brutal homicide, Ellroy hoped the book would help exorcise demons from his own mother’s 1958 strangulation.

The Black Dahlia weaves a fictionalized tale of lust, love, corruption, greed and depravity around the brutal murder of the fledgling Hollywood starlet that shocked and fascinated the nation in 1947 and remains unsolved today. In the film, we meet Betty Short in the heyday of post-World War II Los Angeles. Corrupt politicians manipulate dirty cops who help ruthless gangsters fund seedy filmmakers as they prey on young actresses desperate to find their place in a fantasy world.
Enter onto the scene two ex-pugilist police officers, Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart) and Dwight “Bucky” Bleichert (Josh Hartnett), the poster boys for 1940s LAPD. The new partners’ first homicide case starts with a call from their supervisor, Detective Millard (Mike Starr), to investigate the slaying of the ambitious silver screen B-lister Betty Short (Mia Kirshner), just as they are leaving a deadly shootout.

Blanchard and Bleichert, like the rest of the fascinated city, become drawn into the lurid world of the Dahlia’s L.A. While Blanchard’s growing preoccupation with the Dahlia’s murder threatens his relationship with girlfriend Kay Lake (Scarlett Johansson), Bleichert finds himself irresistibly drawn to the enigmatic Madeleine Linscott (two-time Oscar® winner Hilary Swank), the daughter of one of the city’s most prominent families—who just happens to have an unsavory connection (and resemblance) to the Dahlia.

Blanchard spins into obsession trying to solve the case, seeing in Betty the chance to redeem himself for letting down the other women in his life that he failed to protect. Bleichert, too, begins to question his own footing as his feelings fluctuate wildly between two disparate dames: the seemingly innocent Kay and the knowingly seductive Madeleine—whose unhinged mother, Ramona (Fiona Shaw), proves to hold more than a passing clue to the mystery.

Determined to be famous, destined to be infamous, Betty Short affected more lives dead than she possibly could alive. She dreamed of being photographed for the big screen but wound up the pin-up girl of tabloid autopsy photos. Now, director De Palma brings his signature style and sharpest directorial instincts to take us into her world and the ones that revolved around her story.

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Photo caption
Aspiring young actress Elizabeth Short (MIA KIRSHNER) reads for a screen test in the 1940s thriller The Black Dahlia, directed by Brian De Palma. The Black Dahlia weaves a fictionalized tale of obsession, love, corruption, greed and depravity around the true story of the brutal murder of a fledgling Hollywood starlet that shocked and fascinated the nation in 1947 and remains unsolved today. The Black Dahlia will be released in theaters on September 15, 2006.

Credit: Rolf Konow / Universal Pictures