The Wire Cast: Where Are They Now?
4. Andre Royo
Most every character in The Wire goes on a substantial journey, but few are as immensely satisfying as that of Bubbles. Played with wit and empathy by Andre Royo, Bubbles overcomes drug addiction, loss, and loneliness over the course of five seasons, and his ending is one of the most rewarding in TV history.
No one involved in The Wire was Emmy nominated, but Royo’s omission (given the inherent high drama of his part) seems the most egregious, and he has been strangely underutilised by Hollywood ever since. He has taken small parts in several decent films but nothing too thrilling - his most prominent role, appropriately enough, was as narcotics sponsor Spencer in 2018 melodrama Beautiful Boy.
He has featured in the likes of Heroes and Fringe in brief arcs. More recently he starred in Amazon’s legal curio Hand Of God, which lasted just two seasons. He was terrific fun as crooked lawyer Thirsty Rawlings in Empire.
Still, none of this seems to put the performer to his best use, After playing Bubbles, it’s criminal that a show wasn’t immediately built around him.