The Inside Story on How “The Wire” Was Cast: An Oral History
Behind the scenes of the HBO hit series
The Wire is a show of fiction, but it’s rooted in reality — based off many composite figures known through David Simon’s reporting and Ed Burns’s days on the police force. The creators preferred that the actors did not know who their figures were inspired by. This oral history recounts the mixing and matching involved in casting the show and the actors slowly realizing their characters were sourced from real-life figures — including a fictional Sgt. Jay Landsman (played by Delaney Williams), named after a real Sgt. Jay Landsman, who also acted in the show.
Michael Potts (Brother Mouzone): Originally, when the show was first casting, [casting director] Alexa Fogel brought me in to read for Bubbles. I’m glad that didn’t happen because Andre Royo was amazing. He was perfection in that part, because I started watching it from there just to see what the show was going to be about. Alexa did an amazing job pulling people and casting that show.
Michael Kostroff (Maurice “Maury” Levy): My journey was unique because my sister was one of the producers, which always leads people to think I got handed the part and I didn’t audition and it was nothing like that, actually. My sister suggested me for a much, much smaller role that was going to be in one episode…
