10 More TV Storylines Actors REFUSED To Do

10. Stringer Bell Rests In P*ss - The Wire

Idris Elba gave a phenomenal performance as enterprising gangster Stringer Bell in The Wire, so fans were gutted to see him go when he was shot dead by Brother Mouzone (Michael Potts) and Omar Little (Michael K. Williams) in the late season three episode "Middle Ground."

But the show's creator David Simon originally had a more... involved death scene planned for String, where after being shot and killed, Omar would urinate on Bell's corpse as the final humiliation.

In a 2019 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Elba revealed his reaction to this planned story beat: "I told [Simon] it was absolute tragedy, that it was sensational, and that it wasn't going to happen."

With Elba flat-out refusing to play a pissed-on dead body, Simon and the episode's writer, George Pelecanos, ultimately decided to rewrite the scene to remove Omar's final insult.

On one hand it certainly would've been consistent with Omar's characterisation, but on the other, you can appreciate why Elba felt it was a little much.