'Surrounded' director talks Michael K. Williams' final film role: 'You just wanted to hug him'

It’s been nearly two years since we lost Michael K. Williams.

The five-time Emmy-nominated actor died of an accidental overdose in September 2021, hours after buying fentanyl-laced heroin from a Brooklyn drug dealer. He was 54.

Now, fans of "The Wire" star can watch his final film performance in "Surrounded" (available to rent or buy on digital platforms). Set in 1870s New Mexico, the brutal Western thriller follows former enslaved woman Mo Washington ("Black Panther" star Letitia Wright), who’s forced to watch over a notorious outlaw (Jamie Bell) with a massive bounty on his head.

Standing guard by a fire one night, Mo encounters a mysterious man named Will Clay (Williams), who claims to be a farmer offering help. But Mo and her ward quickly start to question Will’s motives, leading to a scorching standoff.

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The film was directed by Anthony Mandler (Netflix’s "Monster"), who was Williams' friend of two decades. Although the character of Will was written as white, it was Wright's suggestion to make him a Black man.

"In a movie that deals so much with trust of who's in front of you, the idea was that immediately, a Black man would be someone (Mo) would trust," Mandler says. "Michael was the first person I thought of. I called him and he was in right away, without even reading the script. But more importantly, what he brought to the character was really complex. Seeing him take that role was astonishing."

Before meeting on "Surrounded," Wright was riveted by Williams' work in HBO's "The Night Of." The Brooklyn-born actor was also beloved for his roles in HBO’s "Boardwalk Empire" and "Bessie," and Netflix series "When They See Us."

"We know him to be not only a character actor, but someone who always brings truth," Wright says. "Having him be part of this journey was beautiful. We’re really blessed and honored to share the screen with him."

Adds Bell: "He made it seem effortless. There was an authenticity he tapped into. When you're watching him, sometimes you’re so sucked into it that you can forget the stuff you are meant to be doing. To be able to see it up close and be in a scene with him – even just for a couple of days – was extraordinary."

Wright, a Guyanese-British actress, also previously lost "Black Panther" co-star Chadwick Boseman to cancer in 2020. She remembers how Williams lifted everyone's spirits throughout filming: whether they were in the middle of a "really cold" night shoot, or celebrating Thanksgiving with the cast and crew at her house.

"He was just so funny, man, and cracking me up all the time," Wright recalls. "But as soon as the scene's ready to go back on, he's in it. He's zoned in. And my first-ever experience of a Thanksgiving (in the U.S.), he was there. We had everybody over just vibing and hanging out. It was those memories that we hold so dearly to us now."

Williams was best known for complex characters including Omar Little on "The Wire," a criminal with a strict (if unconventional) moral code. But he did occasionally dip his toe into comedy with projects such as 2015's "The Spoils of Babylon," an IFC spoof of vintage miniseries.

"I like to think I have a funny side a lot of people don't know about," Williams told USA TODAY at the time. "People mainly know me as being more dark and sinister, but I didn't deviate from basically what I do."

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Williams' contradictions were part of what made him so compelling on screen.

"Michael, as a human, was delicate and emotional and beautiful and soft," Mandler says. "He played these tough, hard characters, and that's really not who he was. But something about his life and his experience gave him that energy where he could transform. He did so much with just his face and his voice, and in his eyes.

"There was something so endearing about him that you just wanted to hug him all the time."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Surrounded' movie: Letitia Wright remembers late Michael K. Williams