Michael K. Williams And Isaiah Washington To Star In The Suspect

Preston Burke on Grey's Anatomy.
(Image credit: ABC)

The Wire may have ended three years ago, but things are looking pretty damn good for Omar. In the last week alone, Michael K. Williams has been everywhere. In addition to the return of Boardwalk Empire on Sunday, the actor was prominently featured in the season premiere of NBC's Community, and it was reported that Quentin Tarantino might be writing a role specifically for him in Django Unchained. The best news of all, however, is that he's landed yet another movie part.

Shadow and Act reports that The Wire star and Isaiah Washington have both landed roles in The Suspect. Directed by Life Garland and based on a script by Stuart Connelly, the movie is about "two African American social scientists pose as bank robbers in an effort to understand the racial dynamics of small-town law enforcement. However, their experiment takes an unplanned, deadly turn." While the article doesn't say it specifically, one can assume that the two leads will be played by Williams and Washington. Production on the film is scheduled to begin next month.

The tease about the "deadly turn" is intriguing. Is it implying that one of the two "robbers" is going to die? Are they accidentally going to kill one of the hostages and escalate the situation? At the same time, the premise is a bit confusing. I'm fairly certain that you can't walk into a bank, pretend to rob it, and then say "It was only an experiment!" when the cops try to haul you away.

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.