:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2)/will-smith-martin-lawrence-bad-boys-9268c5191dd04505b0af6e49255fb04b.jpg "Will Smith Remembers Making First ‘Bad Boys’ with Martin Lawrence")
Will Smith is reminiscing about the Bad Boys film that started it all.
The Men in Black star, 55, took to Instagram on Sunday, June 9 to mark 30 years since he began filming the first installment of the action comedy franchise with Martin Lawrence.
“This month marks the 30th anniversary of the start of principal photography of the first Bad Boys. DAMN!” Smith began in the caption of a promotional photo from the original Bad Boys movie. “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.”
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The King Richard star went on to reveal that Lawrence’s sister convinced Lawrence, 59, to ask Smith to audition for the role of Mike Lowrey, an officer in the Miami PD, whose partner is Lawrence’s character Mark Burnett.
Smith recalled the first dinner the duo had to talk about the project.
“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,'” he wrote.
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Smith admitted that the idea of “flying blind” made him nervous.
“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,” he continued.
The sentimental post concluded with Smith thanking Lawrence for “tagging me in.”
“You are the definition of a Ride or Die. So… when we doin’ Part 5??” he asked Lawrence at the end of the post.
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Lawrence and Smith have made three sequels to Bad Boys so far, with Bad Boys: Ride Or Die topping the box office worldwide in its opening weekend, making $56 million at the domestic box office and an additional $48.6 million internationally, bringing the film’s total global box office debut to $104.6 million, per Comscore.
Karen Alexander, who played Maxine Logan in the original 1995 Bad Boys, commented on Smith’s post.
“30 years feels like blink of the eye! I felt so lucky to play Max, loved it all 🖤🖤,” she wrote.
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