Any series finale is going to be seen as controversial. Even ones as beloved as Friends finale were criticized for some laziness. The Wire's conclusion may not be as beloved as Friends, but it certainly wasn't as controversial as the ending of The Sopranos or downright loathed as that of Game of Thrones. Still, the fanbase remains somewhat divided since it aired in 2008. The cast themselves, however, have slightly different opinions...
Not only did The Wire make the cast a ton of money, but it gave each actor the chance to be in a show that's generally regarded as one of the best ever made. And this is something they feel is true for its ending. In an interview with GQ, the cast shed some light on their true feelings about their final episode years after it aired. Here's what they said...
6 Wendell Pierce Knew The Finale Would Be Special
The whole way through, Wendall Pierce, who played the beloved William 'Bunk' Moreland, was certain David Simon's show was something truly remarkable. And when it came to shooting the series finale, it was certainly no different.
"On the last day, one by one, we shot our final lines and said, 'Well, I think we made something special', and I'll remember it for the rest of my life. It's about the work that you do and the people that you meet. That will be the longest-lasting, most impactful thing," Wendell said to GQ.
5 Dominic West Got Drunk On The Last Day Of Shooting
It's only natural to want to celebrate the final day of a meaningful job with some liquid happiness. According to Dominic West, who played Jimmy McNulty, that's precisely what he and the rest of the cast did the night before the finale shoot and soon after they wrapped.
"We'd been out that week with Robert Parker, the famous wine critic who lives in Baltimore. He had said to us, 'When you finally wrap, I want you to open this 100-year-old bottle of cognac,' and we did, so I can't remember a great deal about [the final day]" Dominic admitted. "I think Wendell was the first to speak to the crew because he was the soul of the show, and he made an incredibly moving speech. Then I made a terrible speech and it just got worse and worse. Eventually, everybody spoke and it became like an AA meeting."
4 The Cast Of The Wire Had No Clue How The Series Was Going To End
Unlike some shows, the cast of The Wire was never told what was going to happen to their characters at the end of the gut-wrenching series.
"They deliberately never told us at any stage what was going to happen to our characters," Dominic West. "It was a good policy mainly to help the acting, but we would all get the new script and flick straight through to see if you were going to die. It was a Russian Roulette!
3 Jamie Hector On What Happened To Marlo At The End Of The Wire
Jamie Hector, who played Marlo Stanfield, like the rest of the cast, had no clue what was going to happen to his character. But Jamie had a feeling he knew. Turns out, he was totally wrong.
"I had no idea how Marlo’s story would end, but I learned to manage my expectations because the truth is, you know, characters that are living like Marlo most of the time don't make it. They probably have a stretch in prison or their demise, that's how most stories are written about characters like him. But [show writer] Ed Burns was the one that would always whisper in my ear, 'You know, Marlo’s gonna be alright.' On The Wire, that’s a question that you always ask—am I gonna die?" Jamie said to GQ. "You’re on page 15, like, I’m still alive! Even with the nugget that Ed Burns gave me, I still didn’t believe him. So when the character did make it and I look back on the story, I thought, 'Of course this makes sense', because what you expect to happen to a character is totally the opposite of what David writes."
2 Andre Royo On What Happened To Bubbles At The End Of The Wire
According to the cast and crew interview by GQ, the character of Bubbles simply wasn't supposed to survive the very first season, let alone the finale. But the writers loved writing for him so they kept him alive. Ultimately, the character became a "ray of hope" in an otherwise tragic and real-to-life show. Given that the character was loosely based on a real person, this was downright surprising to actor Andre Royo.
"The real Bubbles passed away so I was expecting to die at some point," Andre admitted. "When I realized that wasn't happening then I got excited and I thought, okay I might end up with a nice little storefront, selling some t-shirts, and a nice girl on the side hanging out. I went to David like, 'Can I get a girlfriend? Can Bubbles get a girl?' And David Simon said, 'No, this is not Disney.' Then I saw in the script that after everything that Bubbles went through, he was gonna get a chance to walk upstairs and sit down with his family. At first, I didn't know if that was gonna be impactful enough. I didn't get it. And then I remember seeing the episode and everybody in the room was crying. That's another thing that was authentic with The Wire, the simplicity of that being enough. We all just want to have that kind of moment where we made it through, so kudos to David Simon on that. I still wanted a girlfriend."
1 The Cast Was Drunk For The Faux-Wake Scene
There's no doubt that Jimmy McNulty's faux-wake scene is one of the most memorable scenes in the finale. In the show, the officers through these wakes to honor policemen and women who have passed away. Of course, in Jimmy's case, he was simply retiring. But the gesture was very true to form to both his colleagues and the show itself.
Unfortunately, filming the touching moment was undercut by the fact that the cast was absolutely drunk and couldn't remember the words to The Pogues' "The Body Of An American" which was frequently used in the series.
"David was pissed, he was like, 'It’s one song, we’ve been doing it for five f***ing years, you can’t remember the lyrics?!' But that was fun, the joy you see in that is real," Wendell Pierce explained. "I was drinking. And we did not know the lyrics."
"Yeah, everyone was lit," Dominic West added.
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