Miami Vice star Don Johnson spoke People about “dangers” and “isolated”[ion]His fame in the mid-80s was so fervent that it required 24/7 security.
Johnson played Detective James “Sonny” Crockett on the stylish NBC crime drama from 1984 to 1990. The series was a huge success and largely rewrote the network procedural, making Johnson one of the most famous men in the world. “I couldn't even go anywhere,” he recalled at the time.
“I had to isolate myself. [women] “You know where you are,” Johnson joked. “We had security 24/7.”
After drawing an unflattering parallel between himself and a deceased icon, he felt something had to change. “I thought about Elvis one day and I thought, ‘Isn’t that the way Elvis lived and died?’ Not that I was comparing myself to Elvis,” Johnson said, “but in the sense that he didn’t have a personal life. So I learned to manage that and I swore I wasn’t going to let him. [fame] “Imprison me.”
In addition to the pitfalls of fame, Johnson also worried that audiences wouldn't be able to see him as any other character. “My goal at the time was not to be Sonny Crockett forever,” he said. “I saw the danger of actors who become so identified with their characters. I felt I had to separate myself from Sonny so that people would eventually see me as other characters.”
Once Miami Vice Johnson appeared in a handful of little-remembered films before landing the role. Nash Bridgesanother dapper cop in a dashing city, this time on CBS. But over the last decade, Johnson has shaken off the ghost of that archetype, taking on a wider variety of character roles in films such as: Django Unchained (2012) and Knives Out (2019).
Forty years have passed since the release of Miami Vice, and Johnson is still receiving rave reviews for his role as the villain in Netflix's equally acclaimed thriller Rebel RidgeIt has reportedly been watched for 1.5 billion minutes since its first broadcast on September 5.
“I’m still on the menu!” Johnson exclaimed. While the industry is full of unknowns, the actor knows one thing is for sure. “Fame is a condition,” he said. “But it also goes away.”