In Which Video Games Did Michael K. Williams Voice Act?
On Sept. 6, news broke that The Wire star Michael K. Williams died at 54 years old. In addition to his famous role as Omar Little in The Wire, Williams acted in more than 100 projects across television, film, and even a few video games. Many of his fans and colleagues paid tribute to the actor in the days following his death, including a few faces in the video game industry. Which video games did Williams lend his voice to?
Michael K. Williams did voice acting and motion capture for three video games
Williams took on his first video game role in 2013 when he voiced and motion-captured Sgt. Kimble “Irish” Graves in Battlefield 4. Irish, a U.S. Marine and a member of the Tombstone Squad, was a non-playable character. However, Williams reprised the role earlier in 2021 for the upcoming Battlefield 2042, in which he’ll be a playable specialist.
As Digital Trends reported, developer EA DICE teased that Irish will play a bigger role in this game’s story. Battlefield 2042 is slated to arrive on Oct. 22, 2021.
In addition to his work on the Battlefield video games, Williams also voice acted in 2020’s NBA 2K21 as Archie Baldwin, one of two sports agents.
Following the news of Williams’ death, EA honored the actor via Battlefield‘s official Twitter account.
“Today we mourn the tragic loss of Michael K. Williams. His performances second only to his incredible presence,” the tweet read. “Our thoughts are with his loved ones, and fans all over the world.”
The actor once said his video game work was ‘a whole other world’
Danny Peña, the founder and host of video game podcast Gamertag Radio, also paid tribute to Williams. As seen above, his tweet revealed that the actor was “genuinely excited” to talk about Battlefield 4 and “loved” working on the games. Peña also included a clip of Williams’ interview on the podcast, in which he said his video game projects were “a whole other world.”
“We got these catsuits on with all these motion sensors…you gotta wear a camera on your head and a battery pack on your back…You’re pretty much in a basically empty room, and you have to act like all this stuff is going on,” he said. “You have to completely be in your imagination.”
In addition to the interesting wardrobe, Williams also said his video game projects were very “physically demanding.”
“You’re jumping around and rolling on the floor with all this equipment on you,” he added. “It’s physically demanding, more so than a typical role in film or television.”
Despite the differences, Williams said Battlefield was “fun” to work on, and he already knew he would be willing to do another game with the right team.
“It’s a love-hate relationship for me. I love looking at the finished product. It’s forever,” he said. “But it’s a lot of hard work, and it takes so much time. If…this particular group of people were [sic] to call me back, I would probably say yes, because I really enjoyed working with them.”
What was Michael K. Williams’ net worth at this time his death?
Aside from Williams’ work in video games, he’s most known for his film roles in 2013’s 12 Years a Slave and 2016’s Assassin’s Creed. He also played Chalky White in Boardwalk Empire from 2010 to 2014 and Montrose Freeman in Lovecraft Country in 2020.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Michael K. Williams’ net worth is $5 million.
