Actor Don Johnson recalls the overwhelming fame he experienced during his years on “Miami Vice.”
“For a long time, I couldn’t even go anywhere,” Johnson said about dealing with his avid “Miami Vice” fans. “I had to isolate. The [women] know where you are. We had security 24/7.”
“One day, I reflected on Elvis 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,” he said.
Johnson rose to stardom in the mid-'80s playing Detective James “Sonny” Crockett on the hit crime drama series “Miami Vice.” While he received acclaim for the role, he was worried for a time that he would be permanently typecast as the Miami detective many have come to love.
“My goal then was to not be Sonny Crockett forever,” he said. “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.”
However, he acknowledged the publicity he received from his role. “It’s the 40th anniversary of Miami Vice this year, and hey, I’m still here,” he joked.
Johnson is now a father of five–his second-born is actress Dakota Johnson–and appreciates the flexibility he now has with his acting career so he can spend time with his family.
“Work-life balance is an interesting thing as an actor because movies eat your life. Television shows eat your life,” he said. “Luckily, I’m at a place where I can pick and choose roles, and sometimes I often prefer the supporting role because I still get joy out of what I do, but I don’t want to work those long hours and be away from my family.”
These days, the “Miami Vice” mania Johnson once experienced from fans has subsided, and he is content with where it’s at today.
“Fame is a condition,” he said. “But it also goes away.”
Johnson recently starred in the Netflix thriller “Rebel Ridge,” released Sept. 5, and is set to star in the Hulu show “Doctor Odyssey” coming out later this month.
Johnson’s Career
Johnson was born on Dec. 15, 1949, and spent his earliest days between Flat Creek, Missouri, and Wichita, Kansas. After dropping out of the University of Kansas, he moved to San Francisco and then Los Angeles, where he got his first major role in the stage production “Fortune and Men’s Eyes.”Some of Johnson’s first film appearances include “The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart” (1970), “Zachariah” (1971), “The Harrad Experiment” (1973), and “A Boy and His Dog” (1975). He also had minor roles in TV shows such as “Sarge,” “Kung Fu,” “The Rookies,” and “Nashville 99.”
Johnson received his big break in 1984 when he starred as Detective James “Sonny” Crockett in the NBC television cop series “Miami Vice.” The show ran for six seasons until 1990. Johnson’s performance on the show earned him a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy nomination.
Later, Johnson starred in the CBS police drama “Nash Bridges” alongside Cheech Marin and Jodi Lyn O’Keefe. The series lasted six seasons from 1996 to 2001.
The 74-year-old actor also ventured into music, releasing two pop music albums, 1986’s “Heartbeat” and 1989’s “Let it Roll”. His single “Heartbeat” peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Johnson was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1996.
