Don Johnson and Elvis the alligator in ‘Miami Vice’ in 1984.Photo:AJ Pics/Alamy Stock Photo
AJ Pics/Alamy Stock Photo
Don Johnsonis remembering his trickiest costar: Elvis the pet alligator.
When asked about his reptile friend, Johnson said, “Let me just put it this way: I had a healthy respect for him. Alligators have not evolved one nanosecond since the Mesozoic era.” Johnson remembered that David Letterman once asked him about Elvis and if he was trained, and he told him, “When you’re a perfect machine, you don’t need any training. In fact, you cannot be trained. You’ve just evolved into perfection.”
Don Johnson and Elvis the alligator on ‘Miami Vice’ in the 1980s.NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
“I had a healthy respect for him, and we went through protocols to make sure that I didn’t become part of Elvis’ DNA,” theDoctor Odysseystar said. Those protocols included keeping the animal’s mouth taped shut when they weren’t filming.
“Then when we’d roll the camera, they would have to cut the tape off. And so he was live then,” he remembered. “I’d have to reach over and pet him. He was a house pet, and he would hiss and snarl at me. I’d have to look casual on film. Inside, my heart is doing double backflips. But you manage.”
Philip Michael Thomas and Don Johnson on ‘Miami Vice’ in the 1980s.NBCU Photo Bank/Getty
NBCU Photo Bank/Getty
“I’m not a look-back kind of guy. When I make ’em, I just go forward,” he said. “But I did get a Ferrari out of the deal. That was a nice gift.”
Back in September, Johnson told PEOPLE thatbeing an ‘80s heartthrobdid have some major downsides. “For a long time, I couldn’t even go anywhere,” he said. “I had to isolate. The [women] know where you are. We had security 24/7. One day, I reflected on Elvis [Presley] and thought, ‘Isn’t this kind of the way Elvis lived and died?’ Not that I’m comparing myself to Elvis, but in terms of him not being able to have a personal life. So I learned to manage it and vowed not to let it imprison me.”
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“My goal then was to not be Sonny Crockett forever,” he said of how he navigated the years after the series. “I had seen the peril of the actors who were too identifiable with their character. I felt like I had to separate myself from Sonny so people could eventually see me as other characters.”
source: people.com
