STACK #239 September 2024

MOVIE FEATURE

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L.A.’s Finest

Unbeknownst to many (even those who’ve watched it), there was a police procedural television series spin off from Bad Boys . Originally titled Bad

Girls, L.A.’s Finest was headlined by Gabrielle Union (reprising her role from Bay Boys II ) and Jessica Alba, and adheres to a similar structure as the films, detailing the work of LAPD detectives as they bring down all sorts of crooks.

your film is only successful in America, you are not a movie star,” says Smith, slipping into a brilliant impersonation of Schwarzenegger. ”And he was right, and it really opened my mind to realise how much bigger the world is than just America. America is a gigantic country and many Americans live and die without ever leaving the country. And so for me, right after Bad Boys I made it a point to really get out and just see how differently people think and create and feel - beyond the confines of the American borders.” Tell Smith that he’s barely physically changed since the first Bad Boys film, and he quips, ”Just a little… only the finest juice and berries. ”So, to be able to come back together with Martin, I realised that people grow up with the movies, right? So, it’s like we’re growing up together, and we come together with the movies and it’s almost a relationship that gets created when you make that many films over that much time,” says the actor, who initially was hesitant about a sequel. ”In the beginning, I was against sequels. Until Bad Boys 2 and I just saw the energy that comes around it and that realisation that you’re cultivating a relationship with the people who go and see the films. ”And my thing with the sequel is, I refuse to make one just to make a sequel. I’m always trying to figure out: What is the elevation of the character? What is the new idea?

Will Smith had just finished filming Bad Boys: Ride or Die when STACK met with him at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Saudi Arabia. Words Gill Pringle H is reunion with co-star Martin Lawrence was clearly a huge deal for the Oscar winning actor, who launched his

Hollywood career off the back of the first Bad Boys buddy cop film almost 30 years ago. ”When we made Bad Boys . I didn’t realise first off the power of collaboration. That was the first time I learned that Martin and I together wasn’t just one plus one equals two. It was one plus one equals TEN!” he says. ”So, the power of collaboration is exponential, and that was one of the things Schwarzenegger that showed him what might be possible in terms of superstardom. ”So, I had made music and I had travelled the world a little bit, but Arnold was the first person to really explain it to me. I knew that travelling was important and I knew that going to other countries and seeing people was important. ”So, I asked Arnold, ’I want to do what you’re doing. What advice would you give me? I want I saw on Bad Boys , which was a global phenomenon,” says the former rapper. But it was the intervention of Arnold

Martin Lawrence and Will Smith

What is the change that will match the changes in our lives? I want the character to grow and learn and expand as we’re learning and growing and expanding in our lives; to

to be the biggest movie star in the world.’ And he said: ’If you want to be the biggest movie star in the world, your movies can not only be popular in America.

not just make it because it would be cool to make a sequel, but to be able to make it because there’s something new to say and share,” he says.

• Bad Boys: Ride or Die is out Sep 25

”You have to go to every country in the world. You have to meet the people; you have to see the people - if

54 SEPTEMBER 2024

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