'A genuine guy': Lance Reddick recalled late 'The Wire' co-star Michael K Williams a day before own death
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Just one day before his untimely death, Lance Reddick made unsettling remarks about his late 'The Wire' co-star, Michael K Williams. According to his representatives, Reddick was found dead on Friday from "natural causes" in his Studio City, California, residence. He was 60.
Williams died after an overdose in his New York City apartment in September 2021 at the age of 54. According to sources, Williams was found face-down and unconscious in the dining room of his opulent Williamsburg apartment with what seemed to be heroin on the kitchen table.
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What were Lance Reddick's eerie comments?
"I just couldn’t believe it. I mean, I knew when we were on ‘The Wire’ that he struggled with [addiction]. And I only knew it because he told me," Reddick said to Bevy Smith on Thursday's 'Radio Andy'. "But quite frankly," he continued, "Michael and I didn’t stay in touch." "So because of the trajectory of his career, it never occurred to me that that was still going on," Reddick added, as per Page Six.
Reddick claimed that the "last time" he met Williams was at the American Black Film Festival in February 2020, wherein their Baltimore-based HBO series (2002 - 2008) got the prize for Best Classic TV Program. The 'John Wick' actor said, "Except for the gray and the white in his beard, I mean, he still looked like he was 30 years old," adding that he remembered asking himself, "What is this guy eating? Because I want some of that."
'The Wire' actor continued, "So the notion that he was struggling with drugs and that he died suddenly and that he died that way was just shocking to me." "And here’s another thing," he added, "when I felt like I was floundering in my career shortly after ‘The Wire,’ I called him, and he helped me. And you don’t forget that." Reddick claimed he and Williams "spoke enough times" despite the fact that they "didn’t work together very often" for him to realize that Williams "was just such a genuine guy."
Lance Reddick's death
Representatives told Variety, the 60-year-old actor Lance Reddick of 'The Wire' died on Friday. According to TMZ, who broke the story first, Reddick was found in his Studio City, California, residence. His specific cause of death is unknown but as per law enforcement officials, it "appears to be natural."
Reddick died while on a press tour for 'John Wick: Chapter 4', which will be seen in theatres on March 23. Also, he was set to appear on 'The Kelly Clarkson Show' the next week to discuss playing Charon once more. Reddick is survived by his second wife Stephanie and the son Christopher and daughter Yvonne he had with his late first wife Suzanne.
How did Michael K Williams die?
On September 6, 2021, Michael K Williams, who played infamous stickup man Omar Little on 'The Wire', was found dead in his Brooklyn penthouse, as per New York Post. Williams, 54, was found face-down and unconscious in the dining room of his luxurious Williamsburg apartment with what seemed to be heroin on the kitchen table.
The actor has openly discussed his own drug use throughout the years, particularly during the filming of 'The Wire', where he said that becoming so immersed in the character of 'Little,' a thief of drug traffickers, had a negative impact on his own life. The actor revealed to NPR in 2016 that he once unintentionally entered a church in New Jersey while desperately seeking treatment for his addiction.
