12 Years A Slave’ Director Steve McQueen Remembers Michael K. Williams: ‘He Lifted Everybody’ On Set

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September 17, 2021

By Monique Jones, Shadow and Act

Director Steve McQueen has opened up about working with Michael K. Williams on 12 Years a Slave in light of Williams’ passing.

“…The thing about Michael: [in] every take, he gave everything. He didn’t leave anything behind,” he continued. “…Unbelievable. That scene when the three of them [characters Robert, Solomon Northup and Clemens Ray] are talking about a mutiny would not have been that scene if he hadn’t been in it. He wasn’t in the film for that long, but he made a huge impression. I’m sorry that I didn’t get a chance to work with him again, to be honest with you. He was amazing. Incredible.”

Michael K. Williams played Omar Little on the HBO drama series The Wire from 2002 to 2008 and Albert “Chalky” White on the HBO series Boardwalk Empire from 2010 to 2014. earned Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his performances in the HBO television biopic Bessie (2015), the Netflix drama series When They See Us (2019), and the HBO series The Night Of (2016) and Lovecraft Country (2020).

Williams died Sept. 6 in his New York apartment; the cause of death has yet to be disclosed. Many of Williams’ co-stars have written tributes to him, including Jonathan Majors, Courtney B. Vance, and Jurnee Smollett.

Read the full article. [Click Here.]

Here are similar articles about Black arts & film:

• Melvin Van Peebles, an important Black filmmaker who also recently passed.

• Jordan Peele’s recent movie, Candyman.

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