After "The Wire" - Update on what the actors have been up to since the show ended.
After "The Wire"
Posted Thursday, January 27, 2011 1:11 PM | By Bryan Lowder
The Wire, David Simon's gritty study of the underbelly of Baltimore, was one of the richest, highest-profile platforms for actors of color that television had ever seen. However, when the show closed up shop on HBO in 2008, some critics worried—along with Simon—that The Wire's actors of color would find the dramatic job market bleak, thanks to the show's lack of institutional recognition (it never won an Emmy, despite its critical acclaim) and the general dearth of opportunities for black actors in Hollywood.
So have the dire predictions been borne out? Three years out from the show's finale, let's take a look at how the graduates of The Wire are faring professionally:
Lance Reddick (Cedric Daniels)
Reddick has continued to make a career of playing strong, imposing cops. Having left the gritty streets of Baltimore, he now patrols parallel dimensions as a Homeland Security agent on J.J. Abrams's sci-fi fantasia Fringe. The role is a prominent one, but the show isn't; if Fringe's ratings don't improve in its new Friday night "death slot," the show may not be renewed for a fourth season.
Michael K. Williams (Omar Little)
Williams' criminal status has grown more impressive with time: Having played a feared stick-up man on The Wire, Williams now runs Atlantic City's black community as its "de facto mayor," Chalky White, on HBO's prohibition-era epic Boardwalk Empire. The series was just honored as best TV drama at the Golden Globes, so Williams seems well-placed for more prestige gigs in the future.
Idris Elba (Russell "Stringer" Bell)
Probably the most successful of The Wire's alumni, Elba has kept busy with a number of film and television gigs over the past three years. He had recurring roles on both The Office and The Big C, and played the title role in the BBC America mini-series Luther, for which he received a 2010 Golden Globe nod and critical praise. Stuart Heritage of The Guardian called it Elba's "best work since The Wire, perhaps (whisper it) even his best work so far including The Wire." Of course, that doesn't mean he's forgiven for Prom Night.
Isiah Whitlock, Jr. (State Sen. R. Clayton "Clay" Davis)
Whitlock has enjoyed the most diverse—if not the most high-profile—swath of castings since leaving The Wire. In addition to appearing in a number of major commercial campaigns (Verizon, Southwest, Universal Studios), he played an ex-CIA agent in the critically applauded but ultimately canceled Rubicon, on AMC. His film credits include the Joel Schumacher thriller Twelve and the forthcoming comedy Cedar Rapids.
Chad L. Coleman (Dennis "Cutty" Wise)
Times are tough for Coleman: After playing bit parts in shows including Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and The Good Wife, Coleman can currently be seen on the big screen as the criminal sidekick Chili in The Green Hornet, a film noted for its "crushing mediocrity."
Gbenga Akinnagbe (Chris Partlow)
Akinnagbe has been working steadily, but hasn't made much of an impression since The Wire. After a modest smattering of bit parts, a four-episode run on The Good Wife as a pastor and a notable role as a hostage in The Taking of Pelham 123, Akinnagbe is due to appear next in the psychological thriller The Somnambulist and the sci-fi film Red and Blue Marbles, both of which have been in post-production for an ominously long time.
Jamie Hector (Marlo Stanfield)
Hector's career seemed to be on the upswing after The Wire with a regular role as a super-strong, fear-eating criminal on the popular NBC show Heroes, but following that show's wrap in 2008, the actor hasn't seen much action. One notable exception is his portrayal of "DoRight" Miller in Night Catches Us, a sober look at the Black Power movement in 1970s Philadelphia that's getting great reviews, if not much attention from audiences.
Tristan Wilds (Michael Lee)
Wilds, who played a middle-school student on The Wire, now stars as heartthrob Dixon Wilson in the re-imagined 90210, a show that has received fairly good reviews for a teen soap opera. Wilds was nominated for Teen Choice Awards in both 2009 and 2010; if his young fan base stays loyal, he may have a shot at a healthy adult career. His film credits include the mildly successful The Secret Life of Bees and a long-awaited Anthony Hemingway/George Lucas collaboration concerning the Tuskegee Airmen, Red Tails.
Michael B. Jordan (Wallace)
Following an early departure from The Wire in 2002, Jordan has made a successful career in television, including stints on All My Children, The Assistants and Parenthood. He currently plays Vince Howard in the much-beloved Friday Night Lights, and he will appear alongside Wire castmate Tristan Wilds in the Red Tails project.
Sonja Sohn (Det. Shakima "Kima" Greggs)
Though she briefly left police work to play a woman trying to give her baby up for adoption on Brothers and Sisters, Sohn will return to her Wire roots in the forthcoming ABC medical drama, Body of Proof, in which she'll play a detective.
Andre Royo (Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins)
Over the past few years, Royo has appeared in a number of small TV roles, such as his recent appearance as a hijacked cab driver on Fringe. However, Royo's future seems to be in film: He'll be joining fellow Wire castmates Wilds and Jordan in the forthcoming Red Tails project and will be starring in the post-apocalyptic piece Remnants.
Wendell Pierce (Det. William "Bunk" Moreland)
Pierce's notable jobs since The Wire include a stint on the CBS's show about crime-solving math whizzes, Numb3ers, as well as his starring role as the trombonist Antoine Batiste on Treme, David Simon's exploration of working-class life in post-Katrina New Orleans. The show has been a critical darling and enough of a commercial success for HBO to renew it for a second season.
Felicia Pearson (Felicia "Snoop" Pearson)
Stephen King once called Felicia "Snoop" Pearson "the most terrifying female villain to ever appear in a television series," but the singularity of that role may be hindering Pearson's current career: after all, how often are casting agents looking for a lesbian drug-dealer type with a super-thick Baltimore accent? Snoop may have been Pearson's acting debut and swan song all in one—she hasn't appeared in anything since The Wire. However, she has had some success as a rapper, and a memoir describing her seriously rough childhood, Grace after Midnight, was published to mostly positive reader reviews in late 2007.
Looking at the record, it's clear that while some Wire alumni—especially Reddick, Elba and Wilds—have done well, most of the show's black actors haven't exactly had breakout careers. But then again, the white actors haven't become superstars, either: Dominic West (Jimmy McNulty) has kept a rather low profile on British television, while Aidan Gillen (Tommy Carcetti) has similarly kept mostly to limited small screen roles. So if there really is a post-Wire curse, it seems to be a colorblind one.
__________________
Posted Thursday, January 27, 2011 1:11 PM | By Bryan Lowder
The Wire, David Simon's gritty study of the underbelly of Baltimore, was one of the richest, highest-profile platforms for actors of color that television had ever seen. However, when the show closed up shop on HBO in 2008, some critics worried—along with Simon—that The Wire's actors of color would find the dramatic job market bleak, thanks to the show's lack of institutional recognition (it never won an Emmy, despite its critical acclaim) and the general dearth of opportunities for black actors in Hollywood.
So have the dire predictions been borne out? Three years out from the show's finale, let's take a look at how the graduates of The Wire are faring professionally:
Lance Reddick (Cedric Daniels)
Reddick has continued to make a career of playing strong, imposing cops. Having left the gritty streets of Baltimore, he now patrols parallel dimensions as a Homeland Security agent on J.J. Abrams's sci-fi fantasia Fringe. The role is a prominent one, but the show isn't; if Fringe's ratings don't improve in its new Friday night "death slot," the show may not be renewed for a fourth season.
Michael K. Williams (Omar Little)
Williams' criminal status has grown more impressive with time: Having played a feared stick-up man on The Wire, Williams now runs Atlantic City's black community as its "de facto mayor," Chalky White, on HBO's prohibition-era epic Boardwalk Empire. The series was just honored as best TV drama at the Golden Globes, so Williams seems well-placed for more prestige gigs in the future.
Idris Elba (Russell "Stringer" Bell)
Probably the most successful of The Wire's alumni, Elba has kept busy with a number of film and television gigs over the past three years. He had recurring roles on both The Office and The Big C, and played the title role in the BBC America mini-series Luther, for which he received a 2010 Golden Globe nod and critical praise. Stuart Heritage of The Guardian called it Elba's "best work since The Wire, perhaps (whisper it) even his best work so far including The Wire." Of course, that doesn't mean he's forgiven for Prom Night.
Isiah Whitlock, Jr. (State Sen. R. Clayton "Clay" Davis)
Whitlock has enjoyed the most diverse—if not the most high-profile—swath of castings since leaving The Wire. In addition to appearing in a number of major commercial campaigns (Verizon, Southwest, Universal Studios), he played an ex-CIA agent in the critically applauded but ultimately canceled Rubicon, on AMC. His film credits include the Joel Schumacher thriller Twelve and the forthcoming comedy Cedar Rapids.
Chad L. Coleman (Dennis "Cutty" Wise)
Times are tough for Coleman: After playing bit parts in shows including Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and The Good Wife, Coleman can currently be seen on the big screen as the criminal sidekick Chili in The Green Hornet, a film noted for its "crushing mediocrity."
Gbenga Akinnagbe (Chris Partlow)
Akinnagbe has been working steadily, but hasn't made much of an impression since The Wire. After a modest smattering of bit parts, a four-episode run on The Good Wife as a pastor and a notable role as a hostage in The Taking of Pelham 123, Akinnagbe is due to appear next in the psychological thriller The Somnambulist and the sci-fi film Red and Blue Marbles, both of which have been in post-production for an ominously long time.
Jamie Hector (Marlo Stanfield)
Hector's career seemed to be on the upswing after The Wire with a regular role as a super-strong, fear-eating criminal on the popular NBC show Heroes, but following that show's wrap in 2008, the actor hasn't seen much action. One notable exception is his portrayal of "DoRight" Miller in Night Catches Us, a sober look at the Black Power movement in 1970s Philadelphia that's getting great reviews, if not much attention from audiences.
Tristan Wilds (Michael Lee)
Wilds, who played a middle-school student on The Wire, now stars as heartthrob Dixon Wilson in the re-imagined 90210, a show that has received fairly good reviews for a teen soap opera. Wilds was nominated for Teen Choice Awards in both 2009 and 2010; if his young fan base stays loyal, he may have a shot at a healthy adult career. His film credits include the mildly successful The Secret Life of Bees and a long-awaited Anthony Hemingway/George Lucas collaboration concerning the Tuskegee Airmen, Red Tails.
Michael B. Jordan (Wallace)
Following an early departure from The Wire in 2002, Jordan has made a successful career in television, including stints on All My Children, The Assistants and Parenthood. He currently plays Vince Howard in the much-beloved Friday Night Lights, and he will appear alongside Wire castmate Tristan Wilds in the Red Tails project.
Sonja Sohn (Det. Shakima "Kima" Greggs)
Though she briefly left police work to play a woman trying to give her baby up for adoption on Brothers and Sisters, Sohn will return to her Wire roots in the forthcoming ABC medical drama, Body of Proof, in which she'll play a detective.
Andre Royo (Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins)
Over the past few years, Royo has appeared in a number of small TV roles, such as his recent appearance as a hijacked cab driver on Fringe. However, Royo's future seems to be in film: He'll be joining fellow Wire castmates Wilds and Jordan in the forthcoming Red Tails project and will be starring in the post-apocalyptic piece Remnants.
Wendell Pierce (Det. William "Bunk" Moreland)
Pierce's notable jobs since The Wire include a stint on the CBS's show about crime-solving math whizzes, Numb3ers, as well as his starring role as the trombonist Antoine Batiste on Treme, David Simon's exploration of working-class life in post-Katrina New Orleans. The show has been a critical darling and enough of a commercial success for HBO to renew it for a second season.
Felicia Pearson (Felicia "Snoop" Pearson)
Stephen King once called Felicia "Snoop" Pearson "the most terrifying female villain to ever appear in a television series," but the singularity of that role may be hindering Pearson's current career: after all, how often are casting agents looking for a lesbian drug-dealer type with a super-thick Baltimore accent? Snoop may have been Pearson's acting debut and swan song all in one—she hasn't appeared in anything since The Wire. However, she has had some success as a rapper, and a memoir describing her seriously rough childhood, Grace after Midnight, was published to mostly positive reader reviews in late 2007.
Looking at the record, it's clear that while some Wire alumni—especially Reddick, Elba and Wilds—have done well, most of the show's black actors haven't exactly had breakout careers. But then again, the white actors haven't become superstars, either: Dominic West (Jimmy McNulty) has kept a rather low profile on British television, while Aidan Gillen (Tommy Carcetti) has similarly kept mostly to limited small screen roles. So if there really is a post-Wire curse, it seems to be a colorblind one.
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