Michael K. Williams was addicted to cocaine while playing Omar on 'The Wire'

There was a time when actor Michael K. Williams, best known for his role as Omar on The Wire, was living his character's life more than his own...

simioju

Sep 5, 2012

There was a time when actor Michael K. Williams, best known for his role as Omar on The Wire, was living his character’s life more than his own. The Huffington Post reports, Williams was known within his drug circle as O, or Omar when he would sneak away for day-long drug binges.

Michael K. Williams portrayed one of the most iconic characters in TV history when he played Omar Little on HBO’s “The Wire,” a gay, shotgun-toting stick-up man who robbed from drugdealers to give to the poor.

But in an interview with The New Jersey Star-Ledger, Williams, who’s currently starring as Chalky White on “Boardwalk Empire,” revealed that he turned in the legendary performance while living a double-life as a cocaine addict getting high on the streets of Newark, New Jersey.

Williams says he became addicted to cocaine and marijuana in 2004, and would sneak away from his friends and family to go on days-long drug binges.

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