The first time casting director Alexa Fogel saw actor Michael K. Wiliams, he was auditioning for a small role in the HBO drama "Oz.” He did not get the part.
But his image stuck with her. And years later, when she began casting a new HBO show, "The Wire,” Fogel found herself thinking of him, recalling the actor with the long scar running down his face, the remnants of a razor blade attack. She had made a note of it.
"He made an impression,” Fogel once told me. "I knew I wanted to see him again.”