A show the unreservedly deserves the titles One The Best TV Shows Of All Time, “The Wire” was an extraordinary blend of sharp writing, terrific performances, and outstanding casting that alchemically combined into something utterly singular and distinctive. It’s hard to imagine what would’ve happened if just one of the ingredients was off, but the upcoming book, “All the Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of The Wire” by Jonathan Abrams presents an oral history of every facet of the show, including the directions it didn’t take.
READ MORE: Watch 3-Minute ‘The Wire’ Tautology Supercut
In an excerpt presented in GQ, series co-creator David Simon reveals that at one point, he wanted John C. Reilly (for your health!) to play the hardboiled Detective McNulty. As we know, the role went to Dominic West, who nailed the unlikeable detective we kept rooting for to make better decisions. Here’s what Simon said about trying to track down Reilly, before landing on West:
I thought John C. Reilly could be a different McNulty, certainly not the same, but I thought he could carry all of the excesses and vices of McNulty in a different way. I’ve loved his work in a lot of stuff. I was on the phone with him. It was three weeks before Halloween [2001], because I was in a corn maze with my kid, Ethan, who would have been like seven, six. So, I’m trying to keep up with my kid, who’s running around like a madman in this maze, and that’s when John C. Reilly called me back. I really couldn’t take the call. I talked to him for maybe five minutes, and I said, “Hey, listen, can I call you back? I’m in a corn maze with my kid.” And he said, “Yeah, yeah. Call me back.” In the time between when he called me and when I called him back, he stopped taking calls. He later told Dom [West, who got the role] that his wife was like, “We are not moving to Baltimore.”
Later on, Dom was working with him on ‘Chicago’ and they’re looking at each other. They’re so different, and Dom’s like, “What were they going for?”
That’s kind of how casting is sometimes. You go in one direction. You find out you’re on the wrong track or circumstance thwarts you, and you end up going in a different direction.
Well, the path Simon ultimately went down worked out more than fine. “All the Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of The Wire” is in stores on February 18th.
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