WGTC: Is that hard to pull off, being so detached from the overall project?
Michael K. Williams: Normally I would say yes, but because of what Carmello stood for and what he was doing, I knew what he was doing, I knew who he was talking to, I just didn’t see them. I saw The Purge, so I had an understanding of the world, I just cannot tell you who Carmello was affecting. I can’t put a face to it.
WGTC: I’m honestly a little upset you weren’t in the movie more, because when you come in you just kick the door down and instantly grab the audience’s attention – but it feels like a set-up for something more. Will there be another Purge sequel that revolves around your character?
Michael K. Williams: Hopefully, that’s been the rumor mill, that there’s going to be a [Purge 3] and that Carmello is going to be at the helm. I think that’s a possibility, we’ll just have to wait and see.
WGTC: Now you’ve obviously make your impact on TV shows like The Wire and Boardwalk Empire, but The Purge: Anarchy is a completely different beast when thinking about how to develop a character. Carmello might have all of twenty minutes on screen, yet you have to make us believe in his presence – how different is that from TV? Well, obviously it’s different, but what type of challenges do you face?
Michael K. Williams: Time restraints, first and foremost, but also, in a sense, it was freeing. I just jumped into Carmello – all the layers were already there at their highest levels. As opposed to getting on a rollercoaster and taking that super slow ride upwards, you’re already there and you shoot right down. There’s no nervous build-up. It was definitely freeing, just jumping in and starting from the top.
WGTC: OK, this is completely off topic, but it needs to be asked. Can you please start a ringtone service where you record sayings and people can download hem to their own phones? I need a Michael K. Williams catch-phrase as my ringtone immediately.
Michael K. Williams: I wanted to do that, actually! I was working on it, and I’m not going to give up on it yet, but with the whole HBO thing, I wanted to do some Omar catch phrases. Also, I wanted to create a Game/App for phones called The Shooter, but with licensing rights and HBO’s involvement, I’m just not built financially to do that right now – but it’s still on my list of things to do, especially the ringtones.
WGTC: Is there an art to delivering a catch-phrase? You seem to have mastered it.
Michael K. Williams: Don’t look for the catch-phrase. For me. The minute I start playing to the catch-phrase, I’m going to lose it. It’s got to come from the heart. I’ve got to dig deep down inside and connect to whatever it is I’m saying, and then I play to the camera.
WGTC: A lot old-school action heroes also have that same talent, so I’m wondering if you looked back on any fictional characters or classic action flicks when creating the character of Carmello?
Michael K. Williams: Yeah man, Three The Hard Way with Fred Williamson, my man in Shaft – all the black exploitation characters, they were my dudes! I grew up watching them. Pam Grier! Foxy Brown! You know what I mean?
WGTC: That makes perfect sense because Carmello is exactly like one of those outrageous characters from blaxploitation films…
Michael K. Williams: He was fed up, he was fighting for the people! We’re so politically correct these days, no one really speaks their mind, but Carmello does!
WGTC: Talking about those kinds of exploitation movies, you obviously have a great deal of love for the genre. If you were given the chance to remake your absolute favorite of those films, with your own personal spin, who would you want to see yourself as?
Michael K. Williams: Fred Williamson did a two-part movie, Part I was called Black Caesar and Part II was called Hell Up In Harlem, it was the Tommy Gibbs story of when he was fighting the Italians for drug turf in Harlem – I love those movies. I would love, love, love to re-do those movies. Put it out there, you heard it here first!
WGTC: [Laughing] Well we’ll definitely put the word out for you! In the meantime, what else are you currently working on and what can we look forward to?
Michael K. Williams: Right now I’m in production on the fifth and final season of Boardwalk Empire, I’m jumping back and forth from Brooklyn to Atlanta as I’m also presently shooting Bessie with Queen Latifa, I play Bessie’s husband, I have Dirty White Boy, which is the Old Dirty Bastard story slated for production late this year/early next year, I have a Miles Davis film slated for production with me playing Miles Davis, and in the can I have Kill The Messenger coming out in October, along with The Gambler.
That concludes our interview, but I’d like to thank Michael K. Williams for his time. Be sure to catch The Purge: Anarchy when it opens on July 18th!