The wait for Michael K. Williams to finally get his breakout movie role my be here. Williams, still best known for playing Omar Little on The Wire, has seen his name attached to a number of projects, not the least of which was Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained. That didn't pan out, and he's been piecing together his Ol' Dirty Bastard biopic, Dirty White Boy, in which he'll play the eccentric rapper. That film has run into its own casting problems of late. But now Deadline reports he's snagged a part in Steve McQueen's increasingly awesome adaptation of Twelve Years A Slave.
He'll join Chiwetel Ejiafor, Brad Pitt, and Michael Fassbender in the currently shooting film, which is based on the memoir of Solomon Northrup, a free black man who is tricked by a job offer and kidnapped, sold into slavery for the titular time span. Williams will play Robert, who Deadline describes as as mutinous slave. He's actually more important than that. He and Solomon share a good deal in common, as both were born free and kidnapped under similar circumstances. Mere days before the two attempt a dramatic escape, Robert would become afflicted with small pox, thus ruining any hopes of freedom. The part is small but pivotal in the book, but it's hard to say just how large it'll be in the film. There are a ton of characters Solomon crosses paths with during his journey, and it's been pretty amazing how McQueen has been able to get such top grade talent to take on some smaller parts.
Paul Dano, Benedict Cumberbatch, Adepero Oduye, Garret Dillahunt, Paul Giamatti, Alfre Woodard, Scoot McNairy, Sarah Paulson, Ruth Negga, and Taran Killam co-star. Williams is currently filming the third season of Boardwalk Empire, which should premier later this year.
