‘The Wire’ cast: Where are they now?

Dominic West (Jimmy McNulty)

Before he starred as Jimmy McNulty, the charming but troubled detective, Dominic West had minor roles in Spice World (1997) and Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace (1999).

Post-Wire, West, who hit the big screen in Chicago (2002) and 300 (2006), has continued a successful TV run with Golden Globe-nominated performances on the BBC’s The Hour and Showtime’s The Affair. Other big-screen credits include The Square (2017), Tomb Raider (2018) — where he plays Lara Croft’s father — Colette (2018), and Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022). He reprises his role as Guy Dexter in Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (2025).

West notably had a stint as Prince Charles in the last two seasons of The Crown, for which he received his long-overdue first Emmy nomination in 2024.

West married landscape designer Catherine FitzGerald in 2010. They have four children together, and West has a fifth child from a previous relationship.

Idris Elba (Russell “Stringer” Bell)

Idris Elba had been working steadily in British television for almost a decade before he got his breakthrough role as Stringer Bell, drug kingpin and aspiring legit businessman.

“There was a real sense of being attached to the myth of these real characters,” Elba told EW in 2024. “We were in real neighborhoods with real people. People would come past the cameras and then end up in the film because they were there on the day. That fusion between acting and reality was kind of slim a lot of the time.”

After three seasons on The Wire, Elba began to raise his profile with supporting roles in films such as American Gangster (2007), Thor (2011), and Prometheus (2012). He earned a Golden Globe nomination and a Screen Actors Guild award for his portrayal of a warlord in Beasts of No Nation (2015).

Elba has periodically returned to his TV roots with his Golden Globe-winning and Emmy-nominated role on BBC’s Luther. The Emmys also nominated the actor for his guest performance on The Big C in 2011 and his starring role on Hijack in 2024.

He has kept busy with turns in The Dark Tower (2017), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Molly’s Game (2018), Cats (2019), The Suicide Squad (2021), and as Knuckles in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. In 2018, he got behind the camera for his feature directorial debut, Yardie.

Elba has been married to Sabrina Dhowre Elba since 2019. He has two children from previous relationships.

Michael K. Williams (Omar Little)

Michael K. Williams was a relative unknown when he was cast as stick-up artist Omar Little. He quickly became beloved by fans, with his character even identified by President Obama as his favorite of the series.

Williams was initially thrown by Simon’s decision to focus on new sets of characters in season 2, though he gradually began to appreciate Simon’s vision. “In season 3 when he started to tie in all these storylines, I started to see how he was weaving and connecting these characters,” Williams told People/Entertainment Weekly Network in 2017.

Few Wire alums were busier than Williams after the show ended: He was seen in such movies as 12 Years a Slave (2013), the 2014 version of RoboCop, and 2016’s Ghostbusters. He moved from one great HBO drama to another when he played Chalky White on Boardwalk Empire. Williams continued his epic run on HBO with Emmy-nominated performances in the 2015 TV movie Bessie, the buzzed-about miniseries The Night Of, and on the horror drama Lovecraft Country.

In 2021, Williams died at the age of 54. He is survived by his three children.

Michael B. Jordan (Wallace)

Before his turn as the sweet but ill-fated Wallace, Michael B. Jordan’s few credits included a minor role in the 2001 Keanu Reeves film Hardball.

Where’s Jordan now? He’s everywhere. He spent a few years on All My Children, but his role as Vince on the last two seasons on Friday Night Lights started his rise to stardom. After FNL, he recurred on Parenthood and starred in the found-footage thriller Chronicle (2012).

His big break came in 2014 with Fruitvale Station, where he was heartbreaking in the true story of a young man’s death at the hands of police. This began a strong run of collaborations with director Ryan Coogler, who helped further cement Jordan as a star with Creed (2015), Black Panther (2018), and Sinners (2025).

Other projects include HBO’s Fahrenheit 451 — for which he earned an Emmy nomination as a producer — and A Journal for Jordan (2021). He made his directorial debut in 2023, helming Creed III.

Aidan Gillen (Tommy Carcetti)

Before rising to power on The Wire as Mayor (and eventually Governor) Tommy Carcetti, Aidan Gillen came to prominence in the U.K. with his role alongside Charlie Hunnam on Queer as Folk.

A few years after The Wire ended, Gillen returned to HBO as the cunning and untrustworthy Littlefinger on Game of Thrones. After landing on the big screen in the last two films of the Maze Runner franchise and Guy Ritchie’s 2017 King Arthur movie, Gillen was also seen in the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) and Those Who Wish Me Dead (2021) and starred on such shows as Project Blue Book, Kin, and Mayor of Kingstown.

Gillen has two children with ex-wife Olivia O’Flanagan. He is currently in a long-term relationship with Irish musician Camille O’Sullivan.

Method Man (Melvin “Cheese” Wagstaff)

The rapper came into his role on The Wire as maybe the most notable member of the cast, primarily due to his music career, though he had appeared on Oz and starred in the stoner comedy How High (2001).

During his run as Cheese, Method Man had his own short-lived Fox series titled Method & Red, while making appearances in Garden State (2004) and Soul Plane (2004). He has also released a few new albums over the years and made strong comedic impressions in Trainwreck (2015) and Keanu (2016). Like many of the actors in this gallery, Method Man reunited with David Simon for HBO’s The Deuce.

Method Man has released seven studio albums to date. He had a main role on the Starz drama series Power Book II: Ghost from 2020 to 2024.

He has three children with his wife Tamika Smith, whom he married in 2001.

Amy Ryan (Beatrice “Beadie” Russell)

Prior to playing Beadie Russell, a Port Authority cop and McNulty’s girlfriend, Amy Ryan’s most notable role was on the Téa Leoni sitcom The Naked Truth. In 2007, while still occasionally appearing on The Wire, she was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in Gone Baby Gone.

Ryan has continued a successful run in film with roles in Birdman (2014), Bridge of Spies (2015), and Central Intelligence (2016), but she’s most known for her time on The Office, in which she ended up playing Holly Flax, a.k.a. Mrs. Michael Scott. She also appeared in a juicy role opposite Steve Martin on the Hulu series Only Murders in the Building.

Ryan has a daughter with husband Eric Slovin, whom she married in 2011.

Reg E. Cathey (Norman Wilson)

For 20 years, Reg E. Cathey had steadily been working in the business, including a central role in David Simon’s 2000 miniseries The Corner, before reuniting with Simon on The Wire.

After his two-season run as Norman Wilson, Mayor Carcetti’s campaign manager, Cathey eventually had a recurring role as Freddy on House of Cards, winning an Emmy for his role in 2015.

Cathey died in February 2018, at the age of 59.

Tom McCarthy (Scott Templeton)

As the writer and director of The Station Agent (2003) and The Visitor (2008), Tom McCarthy had a successful behind-the-scenes career before taking on the role of Scott Templeton, season 5’s fabricating reporter.

McCarthy hasn’t acted much since The Wire ended, as he’s been focused on his filmmaking. At the 2016 Academy Awards, Spotlight — which he co-wrote and directed — won Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. He also served as an executive producer and director on Netflix’s hit series 13 Reasons Why and directed/co-wrote the 2021 film Stillwater.

Lance Reddick (Cedric Daniels)

Lance Reddick was another Oz veteran to land a major role on The Wire, playing Cedric Daniels, the stern but loyal police leader.

Once the HBO drama ended, Reddick moved right on to two other successful television shows with a guest arc on Lost and a five-season run on Fringe. He took on additional roles on Amazon Prime Video’s Bosch, Comedy Central’s Corporate, and Netflix’s Resident Evil. He also has a supporting role as Charon in the John Wick franchise.

Reddick died in 2023 at the age of 60. He is survived by his wife of 12 years and two children from a previous marriage.

Lawrence Gilliard Jr. (D’Angelo Barksdale)

Previously best known for 1998’s The Waterboy, Lawrence Gilliard Jr. landed his big break with a one-and-a-half season stint as D’Angelo Barksdale, a drug dealer with whom you couldn’t help but sympathize.

The Gangs of New York (2002) alum had a few short TV guest spots before joining the cast of The Walking Dead, on which he was a series regular for two years. Gilliard reunited with David Simon on The Deuce, this time serving on the other side of the law.

Gilliard was married to Michelle Paress, who appeared in the fifth season of The Wire; they divorced in 2020.

Pablo Schreiber (Nick Sobotka)

His turn as Nick Sobotka was only the second credit for Pablo Schreiber, who had previously appeared in Bubble Boy (2001).

The actor has become a TV staple since leaving the show, with roles on Lights Out, Weeds, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Defending Jacob, Candy, and Halo. He received an Emmy nomination in 2015 for his work as George “Pornstache” Mendez on Orange Is the New Black. Schreiber starred on the big screen in 2018’s Den of Thieves and memorably played the feisty leprechaun Mad Sweeney on Starz’s American Gods.

Schreiber was married to Jessica Monty from 2007 to 2014. They have two sons.

Chad L. Coleman (Dennis “Cutty” Wise)

Joining the show in season 3 was a huge break for Chad L. Coleman, whose most notable role previously had been in the 2002 TNT television film Monday Night Mayhem, in which he played O.J. Simpson.

After his short but memorable stay as Cutty, he starred on Fox’s I Hate My Teenage Daughter and had brief roles in Horrible Bosses (2011) and The Green Hornet (2011). Coleman made a big TV comeback with his run as Tyreese on The Walking Dead, Tobias Church on Arrow, Klyden on the sci-fi comedy series The Orville, and Bruno Mannheim on Superman & Lois.

Seth Gilliam (Ellis Carver)

Another Oz alum, Seth Gilliam also appeared in Courage Under Fire (1996) and Starship Troopers (1997) before playing Ellis Carver, an immature turned dedicated policeman.

He has since had a major recurring role as Dr. Alan Deaton on MTV’s Teen Wolf and starred as Father Gabriel Stokes on AMC’s long-running The Walking Dead.

Wendell Pierce (William “Bunk” Moreland)

Wendell Pierce was a veteran in the industry before landing the role of Bunk, homicide detective and long-suffering partner to McNulty.

Pierce recalled in the 2018 book All the Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of The Wire that Simon was strict about the scripts. “They were on us about the words, man,” he said. “‘All the pieces matter’ was the mantra. [David Simon] was very exact about the dialogue.”

Soon after The Wire, he was back with David Simon on HBO for the New Orleans-based series Treme. Pierce has been busy since, with roles on Suits, Chicago P.D., The Odd Couple, and Jack Ryan. He currently stars as C.W. Wagner on the CBS procedural Elsbeth. On the big screen, he portrays Perry White in 2025’s Superman.

Pierce won a Tony award in 2012 for producing the play Clybourne Park. After starring as Willy Loman in a critically acclaimed production of Death of a Salesman in London on the West End in 2019, Pierce reprised the role on Broadway during the 2022–2023 season, for which he earned a Tony nomination.

Wood Harris (Avon Barksdale)

Wood Harris’ first credit was a supporting role in the Tupac-led film Above the Rim (1994), but his most noteworthy pre-Wire work was as Julius in 2000’s Remember the Titans.

After his three seasons playing cold-blooded drug kingpin Avon Barksdale, Harris appeared on Justified alongside his brother Steve, and had supporting roles in Ant-Man (2015) and Creed, while also costarring with fellow Wire alum Tristan “Mack” Wilds on VH1’s The Breaks. Harris had a small role in 2017’s Blade Runner 2049 and played Damon Cross on Empire and Spencer Haywood on HBO’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. Harris also has a key role in the 2025 Netflix miniseries Forever.

Harris has been married to his wife, Rebekah Harris, since 2001. They have two children together.

Andre Royo (Reginald “Bubbles” Cousins)

With only small roles like one-episode guest spots on Third Watch and Law & Order to his name, the role of Bubbles, the lovable character experiencing a drug problem, was a breakthrough for Andre Royo.

Royo was reportedly so convincing in his role that one day, while he was on a break from filming, a man on the street walked up to him, put something in his hand, and kept moving. “When I looked at my hand I had a little vial of some drugs,” Royo told All the Pieces Matter. “I call it my street Oscar.”

Post-Wire, he appeared on Fringe and was one of many Wire alums in the George Lucas-produced film Red Tails (2012). Royo has also found success on TV with roles on Hand of God, Empire, and Truth Be Told.

Royo has a child with wife Jane Choi, whom he married in 1997. Choi filed for divorce in 2020.

Chris Bauer (Frank Sobotka)

A veteran of TV and movies, with credits for Third Watch, The Devil’s Advocate (1997), and Face/Off (1997), Chris Bauer delivered an important performance in season 2 as Frank Sobotka, who turned to crime to help keep the Baltimore docks afloat.

He has continued to steadily work on TV, including a return to HBO for a seven-season run on True Blood. Bauer popped up as a detective on The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story before reuniting with David Simon on The Deuce. Other notable series to feature Bauer include For All Mankind, Heels, and Fellow Travelers.

Bauer married his wife, Laura, in 1997. They have two children.

Clarke Peters (Lester Freamon)

Clarke Peters was another The Corner cast member whom David Simon brought to The Wire, playing veteran detective Lester Freamon.

Once The Wire wrapped, Simon recruited Peters to his subsequent series, Treme. Over the years, he has made appearances on Jessica Jones, Underground, Show Me a Hero, and The Deuce (his fifth Simon project on HBO). On the big screen, he starred in the Academy Award-winning film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) and Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods (2020), for which Peters earned a BAFTA nomination.

Peters has had five children — one of whom died at the age of four — across three relationships.

Tristan Wilds (Michael Lee)

Tristan Wilds had only two credits to his name before being cast as Michael, one of the students that season 4 focused on.

Wilds told People/Entertainment Weekly Network in 2017 about one particular difficult moment from season 4. “I go into the production office and I’m like yo, you guys can’t have me kill Snoop. I can’t be the one who does it,” he recalled, of Michael. “It was funny because as soon as I walked out of [producer] Nina Noble’s office, Snoop walked in. I’m like, ‘Sis…’ and she was like ‘I already know, I just read it.'”

Immediately after The Wire, Wilds left the mean streets of Baltimore for the wealthy houses of Beverly Hills with a series regular role on the CW’s 90210 reboot. On the big screen, he starred in Red Tails. Wilds tried his hand at music, releasing two studio albums, and notably appeared in Adele’s “Hello” video. He also costarred with fellow Wire alum Wood Harris on VH1’s short-lived series The Breaks and was one of the main cast members on the Apple TV+ sports drama series Swagger.

Wilds has two children with wife Christina Hammond.

John Doman (William Rawls)

John Doman, a seasoned TV actor whose work has included guest arcs on ER and Oz, got his first long-term gig with his role as the stern Deputy Rawls on The Wire.

Doman observed to People/Entertainment Weekly Network in 2017 that The Wire gradually became a “bona fide social document” as it was airing, and continues to impact culture, noting, “There are college courses being taught using The Wire as an example of where society was at the time.”

He has continued his successful television career with roles on Damages, Borgia, Gotham, and City on a Hill. Doman was also seen on The Affair, on which he continued to disapprove of a character played by Dominic West.

Doman married Elizabeth Donnelly in 2019. He has a son with Linda Lee Rudloff, to whom he was married from 1981 until her death in 2014.

Sonja Sohn (Shakima “Kima” Greggs)

Before playing Kima Greggs, Sonja Sohn’s few credits included writing and starring in the 1998 independent film Slam.

After playing the dedicated detective and McNulty protégé, she moved on to a series regular role on Body of Proof and recurring parts on Brothers & Sisters, Burn Notice, and The Originals. Sohn also played key roles on The Chi and Star Trek: Discovery, going on to costar on the ABC police procedural Will Trent.

Sohn was married to musician Adam Plack from 2003 to 2011. She has two daughters from a previous marriage.

Domenick Lombardozzi (Thomas “Herc” Hauk)

His first role was in Robert De Niro’s A Bronx Tale (1993), but the role of Herc was a big break for Domenick Lombardozzi.

He stayed in the HBO family with recurring gigs on Entourage as the group’s long-lost pal Dom, and Boardwalk Empire as Al Capone’s brother, Ralph. For two seasons each, he starred on A&E’s Breakout Kings and Fox’s Rosewood. He also played a role on The Deuce, appeared in Martin Scorsese’s Mob film The Irishman (2019), and had a starring role on the Paramount+ series Tulsa King.

J.D. Williams (Preston “Bodie” Broadus)

J.D. Williams was no stranger to HBO before his turn as the tough and loyal drug dealer Bodie, as he had a multi-season arc on Oz and had appeared on The Sopranos.

Since moving on from The Wire, Williams had a major role in the Spike miniseries Kill Point and popped up on The Good Wife as a lieutenant for Lemond Bishop. He returned to HBO in 2016 with a supporting role on The Night Of. He then had a main cast role on the soap opera Saints & Sinners from 2016 to 2022.

Gbenga Akinnagbe (Chris Partlow)

The role of Chris Partlow, Marlo Stanfield’s top lieutenant and ruthless hitman, was the first screen credit for Gbenga Akinnagbe.

Since his time on The Wire, he has shown up for arcs on The Good Wife, 24: Live Another Day, Nurse Jackie, Damages, and The Old Man. Akinnagbe also reunited with David Simon for The Deuce. He had a recurring role in season 3 of Power Book II: Ghost and is set to appear in Kathryn Bigelow’s political thriller, A House of Dynamite, in 2025.

Paul Ben-Victor (Spiros Vondas)

Prior to playing the mysterious Spiros in season 2, Paul Ben-Victor had a central role on Syfy’s The Invisible Man, and also small roles in 1993’s True Romance and Tombstone.

He transitioned to a series regular role on USA’s In Plain Sight, but has remained a fixture on HBO with roles on Entourage, John From Cincinnati, and Vinyl. He has also popped up on Fox’s The Mick, AMC’s Preacher, the Hulu miniseries Pam & Tommy, and the Netflix rom-com series Nobody Wants This.

Jamie Hector (Marlo Stanfield)

The role of chilling drug kingpin Marlo Stanfield was Jamie Hector’s breakthrough.

Immediately after The Wire ended, he joined Heroes for an 11-episode arc. Hector took on recurring roles on The Strain and Power, plus a series regular gig on Bosch alongside fellow Wire alum Lance Reddick.

On the big screen, he appeared in 2017’s Tupac Shakur biopic All Eyez on Me, playing the late rapper’s stepfather. He reunited with David Simon for his HBO limited series, We Own This City.

Hector is married to Jennifer Amelia.

Robert Wisdom (Howard “Bunny” Colvin)

The character of Bunny Colvin was one of the most high-profile roles to date for the veteran actor, who had been seen in such movies as Face/Off and Mighty Joe Young (1998).

Robert Wisdom has been busy post-Wire with central arcs on TV shows including Prison Break, Burn Notice, and Nashville. He returned to HBO with a recurring role on Ballers as Ricky’s absentee father, while also starring on TNT’s The Alienist. He popped up in a key role on Barry in 2022.

Maestro Harrell (Randy Wagstaff)

Maestro Harrell was the most experienced of his young season 4 counterparts, having portrayed a young Cassius Clay in Ali (2001) and starred on the UPN sitcom Guys Like Us.

After his 14-episode stint on The Wire as the vulnerable Randy Wagstaff, he landed a recurring role as Malik on ABC’s Suburgatory. Since then, he’s had a two-episode guest spot on Fear the Walking Dead, recurred in the last season of House of Lies, and voiced a lion named Azibo in Mufasa: The Lion King (2024).

Frankie Faison (Ervin Burrell)

A Hannibal Lecter film franchise alum, Frankie Faison starred for all five seasons of The Wire as Police Commissioner Ervin Burrell.

He continued his TV work once the show ended with roles on One Life to Live, Banshee, Marvel’s Luke Cage, and The Good Fight. He earned a Gotham award and an Independent Spirit Award nomination in 2022 for his performance in the film The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain. He was a main cast member on The Rookie: Feds during its 2022–2023 run on ABC.

Faison is married to Samantha Jupiter Faison. He has three children with his ex-wife.

James Ransone (Chester “Ziggy” Sobotka)

He may have only been on The Wire for one season, but James Ransone’s performance as the loose cannon Ziggy Sobotka was a highlight of season 2.

He reunited with David Simon for the Iraq War miniseries Generation Kill and Treme, and later joined his former Wire costars Lance Reddick and Jamie Hector on Bosch. Ransone was also part of the main cast for Steven Soderbergh’s HBO series Mosaic and has appeared in such horror films as It Chapter Two (2019) and The Black Phone (2021).

Ransone has a son with his wife, Jamie McPhee.

Deirdre Lovejoy (Rhonda Pearlman)

Appearing as Assistant State Attorney Rhonda Pearlman was one of the first major roles for Deirdre Lovejoy, who previously had a handful of television credits and minor big-screen gigs.

Lovejoy, one of the few actors to be with the series from the beginning to the end, has continued to consistently work in TV, with appearances on Bones, Girls, Orange Is the New Black, and The Blacklist. Lovejoy was also seen in a small role in Steven Spielberg’s The Post (2017). In 2019, she wrote and starred in an autobiographical play, Bird Elephant China.

Isiah Whitlock Jr. (Clay Davis)

Before his five-season run as the corrupt State Senator Clay Davis, the Goodfellas actor had appeared in multiple episodes of Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU.

In his time since The Wire ended, Isiah Whitlock Jr. has been busy on television with series regular roles on short-lived dramas Lucky 7 and The Mist, while also recurring on HBO’s Veep. He played Donald Glover’s dad on FX’s Atlanta, reunited with Wire alum Clarke Peters in Da 5 Bloods, and has had main roles on such shows as Your Honor and The Residence.

Jim True-Frost (Roland “Prez” Pryzbylewski)

Jim True-Frost had a few roles in films such as Singles (1992), The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) and Affliction (1998) before being cast as Roland Pryzbylewski, a clumsy cop–turned–dedicated teacher.

The actor was one of many Wire alums to appear on Treme, and also worked on the one-and-done dramas Hostages and American Odyssey.

True-Frost has two children with his wife, Cora. They have been married since 1999, combining their previous surnames, True and Frost.