Will Smith is known around the world as an acclaimed movie star, and his blockbuster success can be linked back to his role in Michael Bay's 1995 film Bad Boys. By that point in his career, he was already a well-known name thanks to his music and starring role on The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air, but Bad Boys led to Independence Day, Independence Day led to Men In Black, and so on. It was the gateway project that turned him into a true A-lister, with the Bad Boys franchise still going strong to this day.
Reflecting on the last 30 years, Smith has a lot to be grateful for in regards to Bad Boys – and a lot of that gratitude should go to Martin Lawrence, who was actually the person who got him to sign on for the movie in the first place.
Martin Lawrence Convinced Will Smith To Sign On For Bad Boys Without Reading A Script
There has been a lot of Bad Boys-related hype in the air recently thanks to the theatrical arrival of the fourth Bad Boys movie a.k.a. Bad Boys: Ride Or Die, and Will Smith recently look to Instagram to share the story of how it all started. With a promo photo of himself and Martin Lawrence, he posted a caption noting that it was 30 years ago – in June 1994 – that cameras started rolling on the production, and he reflected on how his co-star first got him involved with the film that would ultimately change his life.
According to Smith, he first learned about Bad Boys during a scheduled dinner with Martin Lawrence, and was excited about the movie from the get-go... but there was a significant catch involved: he had to sign on for the project without reading the script. The actor wrote,
This month marks the 30th anniversary of the start of principal photography of the first Bad Boys. DAMN! I was 25 years old. Marty Mar was 29. Just two kids - who lucked out and got to live their dreams on the first try. @martinlawrence had the role first. And it was Martin’s sister Rae who convinced him to ask me to go for the role of Mike Lowrey. We had one dinner - Martin pitched me the idea and I was hooked. ‘Let’s go! When can I read the script?’ Marty Mar’s face scrunched up. ‘Nawww - you can’t big Willie. The script’s not there yet. You just gotta trust me and commit.’
That's a pretty big ask. There are many terrible movies that began with a terrific premise, and the whole thing could have easily blown up in his face. Fortunately, the story has a happy ending.
Continuing, Smith noted in his post that there was reticence, but that he trusted Martin Lawrence:
If you know me, you know I do NOT like flying blind like that. But it was my shot to work with w comedic genius like Martin - so I said, you know what? F%## it. I’m in. And the rest is history. Thank you for tagging me in, Marty Mar. You are the definition of a Ride or Die. So… when we doin’ Part 5??
If you're wondering just how long Will Smith hemmed and hawed about the decision, the answer is apparently "not very long." During a guest spot on The Ellen Show in December 2019, Martin Lawrence shared his own version of the story, saying,
My sister, Rae, she brought Will to my attention. And she was like, ‘You should do the movie with Will.’ And so I called Will, and we set up a dinner. And Will came to my house. And then five minutes after talking to Will, he got the job. I mean, yeah, but it was one of the best things I've done. And now Will's the franchise. There's no-- you can't do it without him.
At this point, the idea of doing a Bad Boys movie without Will Smith and Martin Lawrence seems preposterous, as the two actors have made the characters Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett standout heroes in the action movie genre... but what you may not know is that the project originally had two totally different stars attached.
Will Smith And Martin Lawrence Were Not The Original Bad Boys
Can you imagine Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett being played by Dana Carvey and Jon Lovitz? Had the original vision of Bad Boys been executed, that's exactly what audiences would have gotten back in the mid-1990s.
Will Smith shared this bit of behind-the-scenes trivia during a January 2020 guest spot on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon. He explained that while Martin Lawrence was involved with Bad Boys before he was, Lawrence only landed the gig after the original stars ended up dealing with with scheduling issues:
Dana Carvey and Jon Lovitz originally had the script, and they were the original Bad Boys. And then Jon Lovitz’s schedule changed, so he had to push four months, and Dana Carvey couldn’t wait the four months, so Dana fell out. So then, [producers] Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson had the script and they had the greenlight to make the movie. And they went and Martin was first; they had Martin, and Martin actually picked me for Bad Boys.
It's a shame that multiverse travel doesn't exist so that we can visit a parallel reality where the Carvey/Lovitz version of Bad Boys got made (perhaps a reality where Eric Stoltz starred in Back To The Future). One can imagine it being a wildly different finished work.
If you now find yourself feeling nostalgic for the original Bad Boys, the film is available to stream with a Hulu subscription. And if you haven't already seen it, Bad Boys: Ride Or Die is now playing in theaters everywhere (and just had a terrific second weekend at the domestic box office).
