Will Smith has become somewhat infamous for the movie roles that he did not take. He could have been Neo in The Matrix. He almost starred in Django Unchained. It’s possible he would have never even had the chance to be in those movies, however, if the original version of Bad Boys had come to pass, as the film was originally set to star SNL alums, Dana Carvey and Jon Lovitz.
The script for Bad Boys went through many changes before it was made, but the original concept would have starred a pair of white comics in the roles that Will Smith and Martin Lawrence eventually took. Speaking with USA Today, Smith is very aware of how different things would be if the movie, and the ensuing franchise, which has led to Bad Boys: Ride or Die in theaters today, had never happened. The actor said…
It’s just a little less seasoning in the world if there’d been no Bad Boys.
Even after the new concept had been settled on, the movie we got still wasn’t a done deal. Arsenio Hall was apparently also considered for Martin Lawrence’s role. Hall would pass, opening the door to Lawrence. From there, Will Smith would get the call.
The previous Carvey/Lovitz version of Bad Boys had been a script considered by Disney that the studio ultimately passed on. The movie then ended up over at Sony, where it went through significant retooling. Carvey and Lovitz would go on to star in Trapped in Paradise, a movie you either forgot about or have never heard of, and Bad Boys would become Bad Boys.
Of course, one element from the Carvey/Lovitz concept would remain. While the original stars considered were Saturday Night Live stars, at the time of Bad Boys, both Will Smith and Martin Lawrence were primarily known as television sitcom actors. Bad Boys would be breakout movie roles for both actors.
The casting choices clearly worked, as Bad Boys would get a sequel, and then decades later the franchise was still beloved enough that we got another pair of movies. While many elements went into the franchise’s success, producer Jerry Bruckheimer thinks the right casting was a huge reason for it. He said…
Martin’s the funniest man alive and Will becomes his straight man. Once or twice in our life, we made a good decision.
The chemistry between Will Smith and Martin Lawrence is hard to ignore. The two work remarkably well together and the generally positive response that critics have given Bad Boys: Ride or Die largely hinges on the fact that the actors play off each other so well. Whether this is the last we see of the Bad Boys remains to be seen, but we’re certainly glad that this extra bit of seasoning was brought into the world.