All the Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of The Wire

by Jonathan Abrams

AIDAN GILLEN (MAYOR THOMAS CARCETTI): I remember Bill Zorzi’s eyes kind of out on stalks when I walked into the room, the writers’ room, off the plane from London to start as Carcetti. I looked more like Ziggy than Carcetti—big mop of hair and scruffy clothes, etcetera. Someone said, “Get this man’s hair cut and get him down to Brooks Brothers immediately.” I was Bill’s responsibility, and I knew he was going to be writing on the political strand. He took me on a crash course tour of local politics over the next few days. I had lots of questions, as I wasn’t familiar with the American local government scene. He led me through it with great knowledge and wry wit. He filled me in on lots of local political characters and lore, where you’d eat, what sandwich you might have. He’d been a political writer at The Baltimore Sun, just as David Simon had been a crime writer, and I knew I was in good hands.