Today brings us the fourth and final of the interviews HBO did with some of the regulars on The Wire.
Monday was Clarke Peters. Tuesday, Wendell Pierce. Yesterday, the incomparable Andre Royo. Today, Dominic West, who plays the lovable drunkard Officer Detective Officer Detective Officer James “Jimmy” McNulty.
In discussing Bunk’s relationship with McNulty the other day, I hit on most of the points that make Jimmy such a fan favorite. He’s a real person and a damn good cop. He cares as much about doing right by his street sources as he does about his colleagues.
McNulty wants to solve the crime. Plain and simple. That’s why he was promoted to homicide after just six years on the force. And also why he got busted back down to port duty after Season 1. And also why he got back to the homicide division because of his work at the port. And also why he decided to go back to the streets of the west side after another tour as a detective.
He also wants to get drunk most of the time and has been known to be a womanizer. But nobody’s perfect.
Plus, he’s not too hard on the eyes.
Reminder: the season premieres at 9 p.m. Sunday on HBO.
Oh, and if you wonder why West talks about his “general east coast American accent” below, that’s because he’s a Brit. And the the actor who plays Tommy Carcetti, Aidan Gillen, is Irish. Go figure.
Q: With THE WIRE finally winding down, how do you feel?
DOMINIC WEST: It’s pretty strange. I think it’s just beginning to hit me. I feel a bittersweet mixture of immense relief and nostalgia.
Q: McNulty went through a lot of changes in the first four seasons. Does that continue in the final year?
DW: [Laughing] I think in the fifth season we realize that he’s actually not changed at all. One of David Simon’s big themes is that you can’t change the world, you have to change yourself, and for a guy like McNulty to change himself is very difficult. He does transform himself in season four, but in season five we see him back to his old tricks. He has to go through the mill to have any chance of liberating himself from his demons in season five. Bunk says to me that I’m bad for everyone around me.
Q: It must be fun to play a character like that, though.
DW: Oh yeah, it’s great. What’s great about THE WIRE is that everyone is so well-drawn and three-dimensional. There’s no good guy who doesn’t have a dark side.
Q: What’s the hardest thing about being McNulty?
DW: The accent. I use a general east coast American accent. People tell me I have a great Baltimore accent, but it’s not really a Baltimore accent at all.
Q: Do you have a favorite scene?
DW: Probably the one where I’m undercover in the brothel and I get caught in flagrante. I remember thinking at that point how ridiculous my job is. I’ll never forget that.
Q: THE WIRE has constructed quite a detailed universe over the course of the series.
DW: I don’t know what the exact tally is, but I think David has over 350 characters! And he’s kept tabs on all of them. What’s amazing about season five is the way he ties up every single story strand of the series.
Q: So, in the final estimation, will McNulty be ok?
DW: I think he’s going to be fine.
Michael K. Williams on Playing Omar on ‘The Wire,’ Discovering Snoop, and How Janet Jackson Changed His Life
Glory be! HBO\'s The Wire returns this Sunday! To kick off Vulture\'s wall-to-wall coverage of every media outlet\'s favorite TV show, we\'ve got an interview with Michael K. Williams, better known to regular viewers as gay, shotgun-toting stickup artist Omar Little. Slightly intimidated but completely excited, Vulture recently sat down to lunch with Williams — he’s actually pretty jovial offscreen — to try and dig out some secrets to The Wire’s final season.
You were a professional dancer and choreographer before you started acting. How did you initially get into dance?
I was always dancing. I came out the womb dancing. But before I became a professional dancer, I was 23 years old, working for Pfizer pharmaceuticals and going to BMCC — a.k.a. the thirteenth grade. I had a very turbulent teenage life — drugs, rehab, all that crap — and that was my way of getting my life together, going to school, getting a job. And then here comes Janet Jackson flashing her ass across the screen, talking about Rhythm Nation — I went crazy. I set off to become a Janet Jackson dancer. I wore the tour jacket, the Doc Marten boots, all that. She inspired the shit out of me.
…at which point you started appearing in dance videos, and now you’re on The Wire. Is the cast a close-knit bunch?
We are family. I think that how we connected and respond to each other as co-workers — I seriously doubt that happens on other shows. Maybe because we were thrust into Baltimore and no one really knew the town, so that kind of brought us closer together. But yeah, I always say I’m not going to, but I cry every fuckin’ season finale — every time a season wraps.
I can’t really imagine Omar crying. Of the actors on the show, who’s the most similar to his or her character?
Felicia Pearson [who plays Snoop]. She is Baltimore. She’ll put a bullet through your eyes no quicker than you can bat ’em. But she’ll come in here, smile, and light up the whole room. She has the heart and the spirit of an angel.
I read that you discovered her — how did that happen?
We met in a local bar in Baltimore; she had just come home from prison [for attempted murder]. And, man, I just had this feeling. Something told me to get in on her life — God told me to be a part of her life. I was like, "Jesus Christ, they dumped you on the streets of Baltimore as a little girl to fend for yourself? And you are still alive?!" I was like, "Baby girl, whatever you want, if I can help you get it, you gon’ get it."
Do you think The Wire’s helped to shed light on the darker side of Baltimore?
What I really hope the show’s done is struck a chord with all the hoods in all the cities of this country. Because, really, what The Wire is, is an American story, an American social problem. There’s a Wire in every fuckin’ city.
I hear that Season Five is even more intense than the last one. How would you describe the new season?
It’s really dark and explosive. Everyone’s off the hook; no one trusts anyone. Everyone questions the way things are operating on the street level, in the police department, in the newsroom. Like McNulty, he’s way off the hook this year. He’s doing things that are totally outrageous, questioning authority, and trying to find the truth. He goes way off the deep end this year.
Can we expect any big surprises to come our way?
Oh yeah, a lot of big surprises. My hint towards that question is to keep your eyes on the children. Watch those kids. They’re gonna really take it to another level this year. But all I can really say is, brace yourself.
—Joe Colly
5시즌 시작으로 와이어 기사들이 쏟아지듯 나오고 있음 ㄲㄲㄲ
승리의 와이어 꺄흫
댓글 영역
획득법
① NFT 발행
작성한 게시물을 NFT로 발행하면 일주일 동안 사용할 수 있습니다. (최초 1회)
② NFT 구매
다른 이용자의 NFT를 구매하면 한 달 동안 사용할 수 있습니다. (구매 시마다 갱신)
사용법
디시콘에서지갑연결시 바로 사용 가능합니다.