Michael K. Williams. (WENN)

Tough guy actor Michael K. Williams has confessed he was high on marijuana and cocaine while shooting gritty TV drama The Wire in the mid-2000s.

Williams, who portrayed gay Omar Little on the cult show, admits he became addicted to drugs in 2004 and spent much of his time on The Wire "playing with fire".

He tells the New Jersey Star Ledger newspaper, "It was just a matter of time before I got caught and my business ended up on the cover of a tabloid or I went to jail or, worse, I ended up dead.

"When I look back on it now, I don't know how I didn't end up in a body bag.

"Eventually, I got so sick and tired of this charade. No one who was in my circle, who knew me as Mike, was allowing me to get high. I had to slip away to do drugs. I had to hide it. I'd be gone for days at a time. I was lonely in that part of my life. I was broke, broken and beat up. Exhausted. Empty."

Williams, who currently plays Boardwalk Empire's Chalky White, insists he's clean and sober now: "I finally said, 'I can't do this no more.' I didn't want to end up dead."