Letitia Wright is opening up about working with the late Michael K. Williams on her upcoming film, “Surrounded.” The project marked the 54-year-old actor’s final movie before his death from a drug overdose in 2021.
In a new interview with People, Wright recalls the process of securing Williams for the movie and talks about the creative energy he ultimately brought to the set.
Wright said she had a conversation at the project’s early stage with director Anthony Mandler about adding Williams to it.
“I texted him, I was like, ‘If you get Michael K., this will solidify the whole film,’ ” Wright said.
In an interview with Looper, Wright revealed Williams “was an absolute professional when it came to being on set and playing this beautiful character.“
“He was so beautiful to work with, honestly,” she shared with People.
Wright portrays freedwoman and former Buffalo Soldier Moses “Mo” Washington in “Surrounded,” a character inspired by real-life Buffalo soldier Cathay Williams. The story takes place five years after the Civil War and finds Washington traveling west “to lay claim on a gold mine — the summation of years of toil for Mo and her community. It is a mean, dangerous world for an unaccompanied Black woman in 1870 America and so Mo travels into the deep frontier disguised as a man,” per the official MGM synopsis.
“Her journey just really inspired me, and I wanted to be a part of it and to be the one to tell it,” said Wright in her People interview.
She told Looper that Williams “shared a lot of jokes” on set and “kept cracking me up.”
“I had to be like, ‘Michael, I’m trying to do my scene,’” she shared with the outlet.
The “Black Panther” star serves as co-producer on “Surrounded,” which also features Jamie Bell, Jeffrey Donovan and Brett Gelman. Wright told People the overall message of the tale is “to never give up.”
“Never give up on believing that you deserve something beautiful in life, something that could be your own,” she said.
“Surrounded” will be available on digital on June 20.
Asked if the cast and crew did anything special to honor Williams after his death, Wright said, “We’ve yet to do that as a team,” but when they all come together again, “I feel like we’ll get to do that.”
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