Well known for portraying the character “Poot”on HBO’s hit show The Wire, Tray Chaney is a man of many talents. Already an accomplished dancer, Tray got his role on The Wire in 2002. He has also been in Head of State starring Bernie Mac and Chris Rock as well as the Salon with Vivica A. Fox.

Tray credits his role as Poot with gaining him a large audience, and relishes the experience although he wants people to know there are no similarities between Poot and Tray. Tray, a devoted family man, has always dodged the allure of the street life.

One of the few actors to make it to the final season of The Wire, Tray, who has always been a music enthusiast has decided to throw his hat into the hip-hop ring.

Always a huge fan of all types of music, Tray believes it was only a matter time before he tried the music thing. He has been feautured in several music videos and keeps company with many of today’s biggest hip-hop stars.

Now, besides making history as one of the last men standing on The Wire, Tray has a few movie roles coming up, a new book, and a burg eoning hip-hop career. If you like Poot, you’ll love Tray, so stay tuned.

What's good man, how's life?

Everything is good because I’m alive to talk about it.  Life is great I am working hard and trying to make things happen.

So how does it feel to make it to the last season of the Wire? 

It truly feels great because I didn’t think I would last this long considering I am a new actor with way less experience than some of the characters that I act with such as Wood Harris who plays Avon Barksdale, JD Williams who plays Bodie and Idris Elba who played Stringer Bell.

How did you get the role?

I actually auditioned for the character Weebey, but I was too short for the role, so the writers and producers wrote the character “Poot” which they thought fit me well.

When you first started on The Wire, did you think it was going to reach the popularity it has?

No. I had no idea it would be this popular and I truly wasn’t prepared when people came up to me because they recognized me on the show my character “Poot” really stands out, some people hate him, but from the responses I get I must be doing a good job portraying “Poot”.  I am definitely my worst critic.

Now tell us man, now that Bodie's gone, is Poot stepping up this season?

Come on now, you know the rule, I can’t tell you about the show or what I will do, you have to watch it and see where my character will go from here.  The writers are amazing.

Besides Poot, do you have a favorite character on the show?

Beside myself, I don’t have a favorite character, I enjoyed working with everyone and I think we all were great characters.

Any similarities between Tray and Poot?

No, not at all, I am the total opposite from the character that I play on the show, I have never been a drug dealer in my life, I don’t walk around using profanity and I have never been in any kind of trouble with the law, my record is clean.  And I don’t want to be typecast as a bad guy.

Do you have a favorite episode?

Yes, my favorite episode was the episode when Bodie and I were at the movies with our girlfriends and Herc and Carver showed up with their wives doing the family thing and we had words with them.  It was so much fun playing that part and looking at the expressions on their wives faces as we got smart with them, it seemed so real. We laughed so much trying to get through that scene.  It was fun!

You're on set with so many great actors, including yourself, what is that experience like?

Sometimes, it’s still hard to believe.  I enjoy working with them all, it’s like family when we are all together, and there is so much love not just with the characters but with the directors, producers and writers as well.

Is it a lot of fun on the set?

We have way to much fun, the production crew make sure we enjoy ourselves, they feed us well and cater to us all day and all night for those of us who have night scenes, sometimes I think we laugh and play more than work.

Has this role afforded you a lot of other opportunities?

For sure! I have been able to be in a few music videos including the biggest one with Bow Wow featuring Jagged Edge and the name of the song was called “My Baby”. I talk about the video because the Fat Catz along with Bow Wow gave me the opportunity to shine.

I also did several independent films, I even wrote a book entitled The Truth You Can’t BeTRAY and I turned this book into a play called “The City of Lost Dreams” which is inspired by the true story about my family whose lives are held together by the single dream of a young son. We are bringing it back March 2008.

When did you decide to get into acting?

I’ve always wanted to be in the spotlight, when I was younger, I started out dancing at the legendary Apollo theater in New York City, I won first place 5 times, it felt so good that I decided to pursue acting in my twelfth grade year in a drama class, that was so much fun so I asked my father to take me to Linda Townsend's management company for acting and it went from there.

So you've decided to make a transition into the music world, tell us about that.

Yes, I am actually in the studio right now working on my debut “Untitled Album” with the hottest production duo in Washington DC (Big shout outs to Jaze Ah Green, Rob and Jett.  We are trying to bring the funk back in hip-hop music.  Expect a single January 2008.

You have a lot of new projects coming up; tell us what to look out for.

Well of course, The Wire will be back January 6, 2008 also myself Anwon “Gig G” Glover along with Felicia “Snoop” Pearson did a huge film called Hood Related it should be out in February 2008.  Also me and my dog Freeway from Rocafella Records have this film coming out called “What We Do” directed by my good friend Tron Anderson.

Also I am putting my play “The City of Lost Dreams on the road.  And please, before I forget, go buy my book The Truth You Can’t BeTRAY. It’s an inspiration for young people to strive for their dreams.  Its no profanity what so ever, check out my YouTube demo reel part 1- part 7 by just typing in Tray Chaney.

Anything you'd like to say to your fans at Sixshot.com?

What’s up fans, thanks for all your support and for taking time out to sit in your homes and watch me on TV. Without you doing this, I would not be where I am today. I truly love my fans and appreciate your support.