Courtney B. Vance paid tribute Sunday night to his on-screen brother, Michael K. Williams, just days after the 53-year-old actor was found dead in his Brooklyn apartment.
“Misha (Green) said it best: Michael did everything with his full heart open, with his infinite spirit and with way too much style,” Vance said during his acceptance speech for guest actor at the Creative Emmy Awards
“May he rest in power and let us all honor his immense legacy by being a little more love forward, a little more endless in thought and a little more swaggy in act.”
Vance, 61, and Williams co-starred in HBO’s “Lovecraft Country” as brothers George and Montrose Freeman, the men who helped shape Atticus (Johnathan Majors) as a what and what-not-to-do influences.
“I love him. We recently met for the first time. I’ve been following him and he’s been following me for a number of years. We met at an event in New Jersey about two and-a-half, three years ago. We were just overjoyed to share the same dias and couldn’t wait to get offstage so we could hug and just say how much we loved each other,” Vance said backstage.
“And the idea that shortly after that we would be playing brothers in ‘Lovecraft Country.’ This is his. We were brothers. I died in the series and we said goodbye to each other, so it’s just too painful to really think about so I just honor him everywhere and every way I can.”
Vance’s Emmy win was one of 18 nominations for “Lovecraft Country,” canceled at HBO after just one season. Williams, who is nominated for supporting actor in a drama, is widely expected to win his category at the primetime show on Sunday.
