[ad_1]
Celebrities are regularly given gifts just to be famous. And actor Michael K. Williams was more than happy to share the booty with his Brooklyn friends.
Childhood friend Alvin “Supa” Washington remembers the “The Wire” actor showing up for a homecoming in 2002 after Washington was released from jail for theft. “Mike gave me a hug and gave me a set of ‘The Wire’. In addition, there were clothes. He was given things to wear, beautiful things exclusive to the Phat Farm and Run DMC range, ”he said. “He gave it to me.”
All over East Flatbush, where Williams grew up, and Williamsburg – where he was found dead in his apartment on September 6 – neighbors have fond memories of the star’s generosity and humility. They Will Watch Tonight Williams is nominated for an Emmy for Best Supporting Actor for his work on HBO’s “Lovecraft Country”. This will be his fourth acting appointment.
“To see him win the Emmy would be so beautiful,” Washington said. “Winning it while you’re alive would be adorable. It will be bittersweet, but, nevertheless, it will complete its heritage. “
Old friend LaBril McFadden agreed: “Sure, I’ll back him, but at the end of the day he doesn’t need the prize. His heart is his greatest trophy.
After surviving his childhood in the then dangerous and drug-riddled neighborhood of East Flatbush during the bloody 1980s and 1990s, his friends and family are shocked that Williams was found dead of a suspected heroin overdose in her luxurious waterfront penthouse in Williamsburg.
They never suspected that this could happen to Mike – the big hit they were all proud of, especially since he never let fame get to his head.
Christina Reppert, a neighbor of the Williamsburg skyscraper, will be missed by a celebrity “who was so generous and so friendly it came as a shock.” My sister, who has a disability, was visiting and he was reaching out to help her.
Returning to his childhood territory, the housing complex then known as Vanderveer Estates and now Flatbush Gardens, he was, McFadden said, “an inspiration.” When they were teenagers, “He told me I could be a model. We have become close as brother and sister. We would go up to the roof to take pictures and he would play my photographer.
McFadden, who works in the accounting department of a car dealership on Long Island, said Williams’ encouragement had a major impact on her: “He was like, ‘Bril, come on, we have to go out and do this.’ “
Despite a desire to rise above his origins, Williams has also remained close. Even as his career began to take off – after helping his mother settle in Pennsylvania and being able to live where he wanted – he kept his cradle in Vanderveer for a while. “He had another apartment in Williamsburg,” Washington recalls. “But he stayed here a lot.”
Washington, who works in construction and has a job at his family’s liquor store, said he’s been on the right track from prison – and part of that comes down to Williams’ support. “He pulled me aside and said, ‘You have to stay away. We’re going to do good things, ”Washington recalls. “It was inspiring to hear that from Mike.”
As well as being an acclaimed actor in shows such as “Boardwalk Empire”, “The Night Of” and “When They See Us”, Williams was also a talented dancer. He was described as a “head of the house” and moved to the beat wherever he found him.
“He rode his bike to Commodore Barry Park [where dance parties were known to break out] and join us, ”Nena Ansari, a regular at the events, told The Post. “Michael had done ‘The Wire’ before and I was like ‘Wow. Michael doesn’t live on a hill in Hollywood. He’s here with us. He would show up and have the best time of his life.
Years earlier, he had developed his movements at Vanderveer, where teenage Barbra Streisand lived in the 1950s. “From day one Michael was an open mind,” Washington said, pointing to a grassy area of the complex. “We used to have dance battles there. We put cardboard and people came to see. Mike was a stand-rocker: he would jump and do things like that. He later danced for celebrities.
Washington refers to Williams ‘first concerts in about fifty music videos, including Madonna’s “Secret” and George Michaels’ “Killer”. But moving from Vanderveer to MTV was far from smooth.
At the age of 23 – with two charges of auto theft under his belt and, he told The Hollywood Reporter, a background of “party kid … with gifts” – Williams was majoring in business. at the Borough of Manhattan Community College. He landed an entry-level position at Pfizer. But, as he told National Public Radio, he saw Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation” video and “I just lost my mind. I just left school. I am resigning from my job. And I was like, ‘This is it: I’m going to be a Janet Jackson dancer.’ “
The move caused friction at home (William’s father was deceased and he was raised by a single mother who ran a daycare). As he later said on NPR, “I… found myself homeless.” He slept where he could, survived on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and landed a spot in dance-pop Kym Sims’ “Too Blind to See It” video.
Then disaster struck.
“I remember when he was cut,” Williams’ nephew Dominic Dupont, who said he would accept Emmys if his uncle won, told The Post. “Michael was at a nightclub celebrating his 25th birthday when he disagreed and someone cut his face off with a razor. They call that kind of cut a buck-fifty because it takes 150 stitches to seal it in. He thought it was the end of his career.
“He was on the ground, he was upset,” recalls Washington. “He came out of the club with a towel over his face and it looked terrible at first. But the surgeon gave him a good line and it gave him character.
Some four years later, “Tupac [Shakur] saw a Polaroid of Mike, with the scar. The rapper hollowed out the hardened street look and helped Williams cast in the 1996 movie “Bullet,” which starred Shakur and Mickey Rourke. This lit the fuse of Williams’ acting career – minor roles in “Law and Order,” “The Sopranos” and “Boston Legal” followed – and he landed his career-building role as Omar Little, the gay stick-up of “The fil”, in 2002.
For viewers, Williams turned out to be completely convincing. His friends back home knew it was pure acting. “One day I saw Michael and I said to him, ‘So where do you get all this gangster stuff for the character of Omar?'” Said Ian Locke, a childhood friend. “‘You are not a real gangster.’ His exact answer to me was, ‘I grew up around you and I try to imitate your ass.’ He was serious! I know where I was then and I saw him. He was inspired by me. It felt good.
Even though Williams’ career was booming, he never forgot where he came from and his longtime friends.
“Every year for my birthday he gave me a gorgeous Diane von Furstenberg dress,” McFadden said. “He would send flowers and tell me he was thinking of me. I don’t know a woman in Michael’s life who hasn’t made him feel amazing… he always told you how beautiful you were.
“He would call me and… say, ‘Get up, get dressed, I’m sending a car and we’re going to the Village.’ Then we would go to a restaurant and just walk around the village. Michael loved good food.
Dupont also remembers the big meals with his never-married uncle – “He loved oxtail with rice and peas, conch fritters, conch soup” – and seeing how Williams handled stardom. “Michael would often say, ‘Don’t call me the names of my characters. I’m just a blessed community guy.
McFadden wished he could have one last conversation with the man she loved like a brother. They had missed their phone calls in the week before her death, she said. “I continued to plan to go and call him. Then I heard the news.
While Williams admitted in a 2012 interview to using drugs “in scary places with scary people” while starring in “The Wire,” Washington can’t go past the timing, thinking Williams was over the top. the danger zone.
“I’ve said why a thousand times. Why are you doing this, my brother? “
Watch the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards, Sunday, 8 p.m. on CBS
[ad_2]
Source link