Michael Kenneth Williams

Michael Kenneth Williams is one of television's most respected and acclaimed actors. By bringing complicated and charismatic characters to life, often with surprising tenderness, Williams has established himself as a gifted and versatile performer with a unique ability to mesmerize audiences with his stunning character portrayals.

Williams is best known for his remarkable work on The Wire, which ran for five seasons on HBO. The wit and humor he brought as Omar—the whistle-happy, profanity-averse, dealer-robbing stickup man—earned him high praise, making Omar one of television's most memorable characters. For his work, Williams was nominated for a 2009 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

Williams can be seen co-starring in HBO's critically acclaimed series Boardwalk Empire, which premiered in 2010. In the Martin Scorsese-produced show, Williams plays Chalky White, a 1920s bootlegger and impeccably suited veritable mayor of Atlantic City's African-American community. In 2012, Boardwalk Empire won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. In 2014, Williams was nominated for another NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Boardwalk Empire.

Williams showed his versatility by guest-starring in three episodes of NBC's comedy Community. His other television credits include Law & Order, CSI: Crime scene Investigation, The Philanthropist, Boston Legal, The Sopranos and J.J. Abrams' Alias.

After being discovered by the late Tupac Shakur, Williams made his feature film debut in the urban drama Bullet. He also appeared in Scorsese's Bringing Out the Dead, The Road, Gone Baby Gone, Life During Wartime, I Think I Love My Wife, Wonderful World and Snitch, opposite Dwayne Johnson and Susan Sarandon. Williams was recently seen in José Padilha's RoboCop remake, which starred Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman and Michael Keaton. Additionally, he had a supporting role in Steve McQueen's Academy Award®-winning film 12 Years a Slave, alongside Michael Fassbender and Brad Pitt.

Williams starred in Captive, opposite Kate Mara and David Oyelowo; Kill the Messenger, opposite Jeremy Renner; and Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice. After that Williams starred opposite Mark Wahlberg in Paramount Pictures' remake of The Gambler.

Giving back to the community plays an important role in Williams' off-camera life. He established Making Kids Win, a charitable organization whose primary objective is to build community centers in urban neighborhoods that are in need of safe spaces for children to learn and play.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Williams began his career as a performer by dancing professionally at age 22. After numerous appearances in music videos and as a background dancer on concert tours for Madonna and George Michael, Williams decided to seriously pursue acting. He participated in several productions at the La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, the prestigious National Black Theatre and the Theater for a New Generation, directed by Mel Williams.

Universal Pictures