Tristan Wilds, the 18-year-old actor who plays the brooding, introverted teen street criminal Michael Lee on HBO’s “The Wire,” recently talked to The News & Observer about working on the final series of the critically-acclaimed show, which ends with an extended finale at 9 p.m. March 9.
Wilds recently finished filming in Wilmington for the upcoming film “The Secret Life of Bees,“ an adaptation of Sue Monk Kidd’s novel set in the racially-segregated South Carolina of 1964. He also appears in a recent music video with Jay-Z.
The interview is below, and you can also read some of Wilds' comments about food in Baltimore (where ‘The Wire’ was filmed) here.
Q: I sure am going to miss “The Wire” when it’s gone.
A. Oh, man, I am, too. I used to watch “The Wire” before I was on it.
Q. Are you thinking about having a “Wire” party at your house this year?
A. Actually, I am. I’m going to host a “Wire” party at my house. A bunch of my family and friends are going to come over and watch the last episode. I’m going to have chips, dip, and see if I can order some Tyrone’s Chicken from Baltimore.
Q. Where are you living now? Are you back in New York?
A. Yeah, I’m back in New York, right back in Staten Island.
Q. With your family?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. How did you feel about the journey your character on “The Wire” took this year?
A. Honestly, I love the way he turned. `Cause everybody saw him last season, everybody was like, ‘Aw, he’s turning into this bad kid. Aw, he’s becoming so gangsta.’ But this season, you got to see that, inside, he’s still a kid -- that, actually, he’s very intelligent. And he’s still got a conscience. He’s a killer, don’t get me wrong. Michael is still a killer, but he’s a killer with a conscience.
Q. Like Omar.
A. Exactly.
Q. What have you been doing since filming of “The Wire” ended last fall?
A. I was just working on a movie called ‘The Secret Life of Bees.’ We actually just finished that.
Q. That was in Wilmington?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. You play a character named Zachary Taylor, and he’s the love interest of Dakota Fanning’s character.
A. Yes, sir. It’s about a girl trying to find her past, and her mother’s past, because her past has been clouded with guilt -- something that she’s done as a child. Zachary comes in as a breath of fresh air to show her that everything is going to be OK. He’s a young black male. At the beginning of the story he’s innocent, untouched by what’s going on in society at the time, because, you’ve got to remember, it’s the `60s. And he’s just a genuinely sweet kid, with ambitions in the future to become a lawyer.
Q. How did you like it out in Wilmington?
A. Actually, it’s kind of nice. It’s a change from New York, but it’s actually mind of nice. It was a chance to relax. The party days -- Thursday, Friday and Saturday -- I just chilled outside, just watching everybody have fun in the clubs, because I can’t get into too many (laughs).
Q. They’re not giving you the automatic celebrity age bump?
A. Exactly. And you know, the ‘my mom will kill me’ factor, that always factors itself in, too.
Q. What are you doing next?
A. Right now, I’m just working on my music, auditioning, just seeing what’s out there,
Q. What is your music?
A. I’m singing a little bit, rapping a little bit, a little bit of everything. Writing, producing, everything. Just like ‘The Wire,’ you guys gotta wait and see.
Q. Are you going to work with Jay-Z, maybe?
A. ((Laughs heartily) Who knows? Wait and see.
COMING SOON: AN INTERVIEW WITH 'WIRE' CAST MEMBER AND WRITER WILLIAM F. ZORZI
"Think of this as your online water cooler, where we can all gather 'round and talk about our favorite medium: television."
