NEW YORK CITY—Michael K. Williams walks into a crowded media conference in a Manhattan hotel room exuding the trademark smoothness of Omar Little, the gay, shotgun-wielding gangster he played on The Wire for the better part of five seasons. No less a fan than President Barack Obama has called Omar his favourite character on the groundbreaking HBO show. As Williams struts in, one notices a few things: the tall fedora that’s perched on his head like a witch’s hat; the way his two gold necklaces bounce off his skinny chest as he walks; and the black T-shirt that reads “I Can’t Breathe.” A day after massive protests related to Eric Garner’s death by asphyxiation at the hands of NYPD officers rumbled on the streets below, Williams takes the podium with a weariness that his big eyes can’t help but project.

Williams is here promoting his latest, The Gambler (opening Christmas Day [Decmber 25]), a remake of the 1974 James Caan film in which he plays a gangster named Neville who becomes one of the three shady characters that Jim (Mark Wahlberg) borrows money from in his attempt to pay off his ever-growing gambling debts. “Basically, I think Neville sees Jim as a mirror in some aspects,” explains Williams. “Jim is someone who, from the outside, seems to have everything: status, money, good looks. And people look at Neville and think of him in a similar fashion: chicks, money, power, respect. And they’re both searching, they both want something similar. The trappings of their world start to suffocate them and I think that’s what attracted him to Jim.”

Although Wahlberg is an executive producer of Boardwalk Empire, another HBO show in which Williams steals every scene he’s in, and despite a long-standing friendship, the two had never acted together. “I’ve known Michael for a very long time, before I ever acted in a movie, through mutual friends,” says Wahlberg at the same conference. “So it was great to get an opportunity to finally work with him.…He’s menacing in a very effortless way. But he’s very kind and gracious while on set.”

Many of the cast and crew speak about addiction, as it’s a central theme of the film, but Williams never gets the chance to. When the moderator attempts to end the presser, Williams politely cuts him off. “Excuse me, if I may just say a couple words on the topic of addiction,” the actor interjects. “When we speak about addiction, I would assume that most of us are talking about drugs, alcohol, eating, shopping. As someone that’s been in recovery, what I’ve found is that those things are not the problem; they’re really the symptom of the problem.…It’s that as addicts we have an inability to deal with life on life’s terms. So we self-medicate. And that’s the problem. If there’s something that’s life-threatening, you expect anyone to understand that. If jumping in front of oncoming traffic is detrimental to your life, why would you keep doing it? I don’t expect you to understand but it’s a self-love process and an inability to deal with life and deal with our demons. So that’s what I’ve come to find out that addiction is about. It’s not about the actual danger of using; it’s about dealing with life and your demons. Thank you.”

That’s about as close as it gets to dropping the mike at a press conference. As Williams leaves the stand and wades through the crowd, the Straight catches up with him to ask about that shirt. “Injustice. This means injustice, basically,” says Williams quietly, his low voice vibrating with passion. “You know, I think a dialogue has to happen, there has to be a change in the way the police and the community communicate with each other and deal with each other. Humanity and respect have to be restored and a dialogue has to come back to the community in dealing with police. That has to happen and until it happens, this will not change.”