The Wire HBO Fan Club » Stringer Bell

Idris Elba of the Wire take on Morgan Freeman role

mcnulty — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 23:03:42 +0000

British actor Idris Elba, famed for his brilliant role as drug Kingpin Stringer bell, is to play a psyhochologist in an upcoming movie – Cross. The Freeman connection is that Morgan Freeman played the titular role of dr Cross in two previous films of the murder mystery series.

The Wire – Where are they now?

mcnulty — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 10:05:06 +0000

The Telegraph has an interesting article on the Wire cast and what they are up to now that the show has finished.

Last time i spotted my personal favourite “McNulty” was in Frank Millers 300.

English Actors in The Wire – Would You Have Guessed?

mcnulty — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 09:18:54 +0000

Did you know that Jimmy McNulty is played by an English actor? Or Stringer Bell? Well, it’s true…

Dominic West, who plays McNulty, was born and raised in Sheffield. According to the book The Wire: Truth Be Told, he got the role of McNulty by sending over an audition tape of him self playing the part of McNulty and leaving out the other persons’ lines with long pauses as he didn’t have anyone to play the part against. This made for a very amusing scene which caught the eyes of the producers. Although he’s usually spot on with the Baltimore accent, in the scene below you can clearly hear his English roots.

In episode 22 season 2 he is also going under cover at an illegal brothel parodying an English man, which makes for a very funny scene considering he’s actually English.

King Pin Stringer Bell is skilfully played by Hackney actor Idris Elba. According to IMDB, he actually uses his American accent when talking to The Wire fans.

“Wherever I go the real hard-core drug dealers come up to me and confide in me. I almost feel guilty turning around and saying: ‘Ello, mate. My name’s Idris and I’m from London.’ I don’t want to break the illusion.”

The Wire as a Video Game?

mcnulty — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 23:25:23 +0000

Media scholar Jason Mittel of the blog Just TV, has published a draft of what seem to become an excellent essay about the Wire and how it is narratively constructed. A good read for anyone interested in understanding some of the underlying appeal of the show.

After discussing whether or not to assess the wire as a televised novel, he goes on to compare the wire with the narrative structure of a video game. This actually made me think – is this something you would like to see?

Excerpt: Ultimately the characters in The Wire, while quite human and multi-dimensional, are as narrowly defined in their possibilities as typical videogame avatars. They each do what they do because that is the way the game is played—Bubbles can’t get clean, McNulty can’t follow orders, Avon can’t stop fighting for his corners, Sobotka can’t let go of the glory days of the shipyard. The characters with agency to change, like Stringer Bell, D’Angelo Barksdale, or Bunny Colvin, find the systems too resistant, the “boss levels” too difficult, to overcome the status quo.

Ultimately it is through its focus on procedure, at the levels of action, play, and code, that The Wire generates its verisimilitude, creating a ludic engagement with the SimCity of 21st century Baltimore.

Me myself would love to be able to take on the role of a Baltimore cop or hoodie and be part of evolving the story; solving crimes, having a drinking session with Bunk and McNulty or running packages.

What do you think? Would you play good cop, bad cop, king pin or perhaps junkie? Would it even be possible to transfer the dynamics of the show to the video game medium?