“Bad Boys” is one of Michael Bay’s great classics. Worn by Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, the feature film tells the adventures of two totally different cops. A buddy-movie which almost turned tragic for Tchéky Karyo.
bad boys : classic action movie
Released in 1995, bad boys is one of Michael Bay’s most famous films. An explosive feature film carried by two talented actors: Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. The filmmaker appropriates the concept of buddy-movie to sign a cult action comedy, which subsequently led to two sequels. Produced by Sony Pictures, the film proved to be a huge box office success, with over 141 million dollars in revenue for a budget of 19 million. For his first feature film, Michael Bay struck a blow and quickly established himself as a unique filmmaker.
Michael Bay is a filmmaker who does not necessarily hold a very good reputation. The director is known for not taking a lot of precautions during his often explosive and dangerous shoots. Health standards, the safety of its actors, it’s not his priority. It has already happened several times that actors close to death or that extras or technicians have accidents. bad boys is no exception to the rule since it is the actor Tchéky Karyo who came very close to death.
Tchéky Karyo almost lost his life during the filming
This French actor embodies Fouchetthe villain of the first opus of bad boys. An experience that remained etched in his memory, but not necessarily for the right reasons. In effect, Tchéky Karyo almost died during a rather perilous stunt. A sequence that takes place during the end of the footage, on the tarmac of an airport.
Fouchet flees in a convertible Cobra. Will Smith’s character tries to intercept it and falls out of the vehicle. A short stunt, which lasts about ten seconds on the screen, but which could have proved fatal for Tchéky Karyo. The actor has often come back to this near-miss accident, especially withAllocinated in 2018:
It was a big waterfall. The director pushed me a bit too far. The stuntman asked me not to go too fast because he was afraid of falling on the oars coming down from the plane. He hadn’t rehearsed and there was nothing to protect him. I tried to protect him. The director didn’t care because he said: “it’s his job, he has to manage”. I took the shards of the windshield in the face.
Michael Bay is renowned for pushing his actors to the limit and sometimes ask them the impossible. Tchéky Karyo’s experience on bad boys confirms this assertion. On the set of this particular scene, Tchéky Karyo refused to drive fast, so as not to make the stuntman take too many risks. The filmmaker agreed not to blow the latter on the car. In return, however, he demanded that Tchéky Karyo drive very quickly, despite a wet and dangerous road. Safety instructions and Michael Bay, that’s two…
