Larry Wilcox Auditions for Miami Vice


Mr. Calderon

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Not sure if someone posted it yet.

 

Really curious...i would like to see the whole test.. Even Don´s and Philip´s....

 

So would I!  thanks for sharing, interesting to consider how different Sonny Crockett might have been if played by anyone else besides DJ.

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More about from:


 


 


http://larrywilcox.net/ask-larry-december-edition/


 


 


 


Michael Mann asked me to read for this series called Miami Vice.  He asked if I would grease my hair back and have stubble and moustache and be a hard ass.  I said sure….and when I read for the part he was one intense bastard which was his protective shell of his soft heart.  I really enjoyed the character I defined and it was for Universal Studios in association with NBC.  My agent told me they had read tons of actors and could not find the right guy.  They had read even Don Johnson originally according to my sources.


When Universal saw my screen test they went crazy saying that I was one of the finest and most intense actors they had ever seen in a screen test and told my agent, David Shapira, that I should have been a screen star with that intensity.  I wallowed in the ego of those statements and of course…….agreed.


Then they said that we need you to read with other actors to see if we can find someone that will be good with you.  I read with many actors and did stunts and fight scenes and all kinds of crap for Michael Mann and the writer.  Later I found out that the writer of the orig series pilot did not want me and was perhaps just using me to read other actors.  I went and read for NBC for the final decision and Brandon Tartikoff, the esteemed President of NBC, said in his book, that Larry Wilcox was the choice for Miami Vice.  On the day before Christmas after helping them (universal and Michael Mann) to find an actor, taking hits to my face in fight scenes and all of the other such tests…..I was informed that it was all bull**** and they were not going to use me and in fact were going to use Don Johnson.  It was a cold blow and a manipulative blow the day before Christmas and I was upset and dejected.  I wondered about all the compliments and all the hoopla and the lies or truth of it all.  I still do not know what happened but it could have been the writer, it could have been an Agent pulling a move with other actors in some other production IF they would take Don Johnson on Miami Vice, or it could have been Don was just great.  In retrospect, I think they made the RIGHT choice!


I came very close to starring in Rich man Poor Man after Nick Nolte left the series but that became an ugly political thing with a casting director who hated me because one time as a young actor on a TV commercial I pushed for getting travel pay and a meal penalty and she was very upset with my Union like behavior.  In retrospect…..she was right as my selfish and pompous choices were not giving but she should not have taken revenge on me like she did my entire career.


I was also chosen to do Full Metal Jacket and they wanted me to work for Scale ad they did when they wanted me to do Boys in Company C about Vietnam.  I thought I was an ARTISTE then and passed on the SCALE (minimums) pay.  In retrospect, I won the roles and I should have done them…..they might have changed my career.


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(snipped)

my selfish and pompous choices were not giving but she should not have taken revenge on me like she did my entire career.

I was also chosen to do Full Metal Jacket and they wanted me to work for Scale ad they did when they wanted me to do Boys in Company C about Vietnam.  I thought I was an ARTISTE then and passed on the SCALE (minimums) pay.  In retrospect, I won the roles and I should have done them…..they might have changed my career.

 

Sounds like Larry Wilcox has been through some of the same struggles DJ has had with letting ego drive the bus, and has come out more philosophical on the other side, as DJ has also.  Very interesting piece--thanks for sharing, Mr. Calderone!

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LOL, I didn't know he did a screen test for that show!  Or do you mean, if he had done one?

Yes, he did. They tested five guys, Including Don Johnson.

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Can't picture Wilcox as Sonny Crockett. With that Howdy Doody face he'd be better playing Zito if anything.

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Can't picture Wilcox as Sonny Crockett. With that Howdy Doody face he'd be better playing Zito if anything.

 

Me either, and he doesn't have the range of DJ. I will always see him as the staid sidekick John to Ponch in the not so memorable cop show, CHIPS.

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Can't picture Wilcox as Sonny Crockett. With that Howdy Doody face he'd be better playing Zito if anything.

 

True!  I never watched CHIPS, but you're right, his face is kind of cartoonish.

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Well, he did say they made the RIGHT CHOICE. Pretty big of him to admit, as I'm sure it was painful to loose that job. But, he was correct, Don was the absolute best for the part. I see he was wearing a sportcoat. Not pastel, but at least he tried!

 

GREAT FIND!

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Wilcox's reading was really exaggerate, he acted too angry and so he couldn't transmit the irony which I think the line was all about.

His acting has never been special, also in Chips, which was boring and not captivating. I only watched it because I totally loved the exterior shots of L.A. and the highways!  :)

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Used to watch C.H.I.P.s    I used to laugh at the fact that they had the only 2 motorcycles that couldn't catch a car!

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Used to watch C.H.I.P.s    I used to laugh at the fact that they had the only 2 motorcycles that couldn't catch a car!

:)   :)   :)  Mee too! The only way they could catch a car was if there was a roadblock or a queue.

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I too was a fan of CHIPs.  I just cannot see Larry Wilcox playing the part of Sonny Crockett.  He didn't have the right look.  

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I too was a fan of CHIPs.  I just cannot see Larry Wilcox playing the part of Sonny Crockett.  He didn't have the right look.  

I agree, however we only know Don Johnson as Sonny Crockett. If Larry Wilcox had gotten the part we would probably all be saying "who's this Don Johnson guy? He doesn't fit the part!"   Either way, I'm glad we ended up with DJ!

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I agree, however we only know Don Johnson as Sonny Crockett. If Larry Wilcox had gotten the part we would probably all be saying "who's this Don Johnson guy? He doesn't fit the part!"   Either way, I'm glad we ended up with DJ!

 

 

MMMM.  You make an interesting point.  We will never know if Larry Wilcox could have pulled it off being Crockett.  But again DJ had that look that was needed.  

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I just looked at IMdB "frequently asked questions" and Trivia

 

Was Don Johnson the first actor cast to play Sonny Crockett?  

No, in fact in 1984 prior to casting the pivotal roles of Crockett and Tubbs then NBC entertainment chief Brandon Tartikoff had considered former Chips actor Larry Wilcox for the co lead. One reason was that there was a shortage of leading men in the mid-30's age group and that Wilcox had been a cop on the previous television series. However executive producer Michael Mann and creator/writer Anthony Yerkovich had remembered Don Johnson from four failed pilots and had him audition with Philip Michael Thomas for the lead roles. Therefore Wilcox was out and Johnson and Thomas displayed strong on camera chemistry so were then cast as the leads and the rest became prime time television history.

 

Larry Wilcox decided to audition for the role of Detective James Crockett to keep his career active. This was after he was dropped from the CHiPs (1977) TV series and it was canceled in 1983. Larry Wilcox and Don Johnson were the last two finalists and the producers of Miami Vice (1984) had difficulties choosing between them. Unfortunately for Larry Wilcox, the producers decided against him because they felt going from one cop role to another would not be a good fit for a new TV show. As a result, Don Johnson was chosen for the role of Detective James Crockett.

 

Initially, Jeff Bridges and then Nick Nolte were considered for the role of Sonny Crockett. At the time it was not seen as lucrative for movie stars to venture into television.

 

Larry Wilcox was a finalist to play Sonny Crockett.

 

Mickey Rourke was considered to play Sonny Crockett but turned it down. 

 

So they were really considering Larry Wilcox to play the role of Crockett!??? Luckily they didn't.

If they hadn't chosen Don Johnson I could have pictured Jeff Bridges or Mickey Rourke playing the part. But in the end I am very much pleased with Don.

I agree DJ both had the look, charisma and attitude for the part. I can't say the same about Wilcox.

Edited by summer84
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This was very interesting!  While it's true we didn't get to see Larry Wilcox in the role and he may have been good, I'm sure his Sonny Crockett would have ultimately been a very different character.  Would the show have become the hit it did with another actor in the part?  Maybe, maybe not.

 

I agree, Don Johnson had the look, charisma, and attitude it took to define a Sonny Crockett who was able to drive Miami Vice to white-hot phenomenon status--and to become a character we cared about. 

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MMMM.  You make an interesting point.  We will never know if Larry Wilcox could have pulled it off being Crockett.  But again DJ had that look that was needed.  

Yes but listen to any interview with DJ when they talk about the "look"  Don will tell you that the look pretty much evolved out of necessity. Working long hours in the Miami heat caused Don to dress in T-shirts and lose the socks, so I think it's better to say that Don created the look rather than fit into some pre conceived idea of what Sonny should look like. 

 

Also to add to my previous statement. We can't picture anybody else but DJ as Sonny Crockett because that's all we know. There are many such stories in Hollywood. I mean can you picture anyone else but Harrison Ford playing Indiana Jones?  I read someplace that Tom Selleck was one of the previous choices. I also read that Tom Cruise wanted the role of Tony Stark / Iron Man!  To me, Robert Downey Jr. is Tony Stark but then again if Cruise had gotten the part....? Who knows!?

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