Where Are They Now? Our Favorite Good and Bad Guys From “The Wire”
BAD GUYS
Omar Little
Although he was soooo entertaining and poetic at times, let us not forget that Omar Little was a bad guy. The stick-up man with his big guns and big jacket and signature whistle terrorized the drug dealers on the Westside of Baltimore. And though he came off rough and tough, we always respected that Little had rules, and respect for others, including NOT picking up his gun on Sundays. Since his run on the show ended, IF you know what I mean, Michael Kenneth Williams has been keeping those acting jobs coming. Most notably, he was in Miracle at St. Anna, Brooklyn’s Finest, and has had recurring and regular roles on the shows, “The Philanthropist,” “Boardwalk Empire” as Chalky White, and on “Community.” He is working on the movies They Die By Dawn, Snitch, Twelve Years A Slave, The Suspect, Dirty White Boy (interesting title?) and 1982 this year. Plus, you probably peeped him dancing in that “The Wire: The Musical” short for Funny or Die.
Avon Barksdale
I don’t care what anybody says about Wood Harris, I love him, and I loved him in this role as kingpin, Avon Barksdale. He was wise, with just the right mix of sensibility but a whole lot of hood. Step to him and he was ready to go to war when he really needed to cool it as to not harm his business, but he was reckless like that. After playing Barksdale, Harris tried his best not to get typecast like others who’ve appeared on the show, playing a quirky doctor in The Heart Specialist alongside Zoe Saldana (before she blew up), did Jazz in the Diamond District, Not Easily Broken, Next Day Air, and Just Another Day. He also made guest appearances on “Southland” and is working on the movie Sweetwater. And it’s not too late to catch him as Mitch in the revival of the Tennessee Williams play, “A Streetcar Name Desire alongside Blair Underwood and Nicole Ari Parker. Oh, and he’s also been trying his hand at music, producing his own album, Beautiful Wonderful.
Stringer Bell
Avon’s right-hand man and best friend, Bell tried to make their work in the drug game legitimate and was more focused on the business aspect than the corner battles and drama that came with it. His and Barksdale’s conflicting opinions on the direction of their work is what inevitably tore them apart as friends. Such a shame! Props to Idris Elba for doing his best with that Baltimore accent, we know it couldn’t have been easy. As we all know, Elba has had big luck since he broke out on the TV show. He was in Daddy’s Little Girls, 28 Days Later, American Gangster, RocknRolla, Obsessed with Beyonce, The Losers, Takers, Thor, and the recent release that is Prometheus. He’s also had a recurring role on “The Office” for a short time as Charles Miner, was on “The Big C” and if that wasn’t enough, he’s got his own show, “Luther” on BBC which garnered him a Golden Globe for his acting talents. He’s got a lot more films coming up that he’s working on, including a rumored take at playing Nelson Mandela in A Long Walk Home, and is set to star in Thor 2.
D’Angelo Barksdale
Everytime I think of D’Angelo I just shake my head. So much potential and such a good heart, if only he hadn’t got caught up with his uncle, his maybe too loyal mother, the sheisty Stringer Bell and the drug game. Ah well! Barksdale made an early exit and after that, we saw very little of Lawrence Gilliard Jr. But he’s doing all right. In fact, he had a recurring role on the show “The Beast,” and a recurring guest role on “Army Wives.” He’s mostly stuck to TV, but you can catch him in the following movies this year and next year: Would You Rather, The Trial of Ben Barry (short) and St. Sebastian (2013).
Wee-Bey Brice
A skilled hitman with an odd love for fish, Wee-Bey was indeed a character. Even behind bars he had people shook (mostly his crazy a** wife), and when he was on the streets, everybody needed to watch their back. I personally thought his dark character was hilarious, and I often wondered what he ended up doing when the show ended. The man who played him, Hassan Johnson, went on to play in Brooklyn’s Finest, Frankenhood, A Day In the Life, Gun and A Talent For Trouble. He’s also had some guest roles on shows like FX’s “Justified,””Cold Case and on the now-defunct show Dark Blue. Check him out in An American in Hollywood, to be released this year, and Last I Heard and Newlyweeds to come out next year.
