Conversations: Don Johnson

may I at least see my cousin you can right off I would love to sir just as soon as I get my money back you do not stand in my station in front of my officers and set terms you need to be very very careful let's not do that Chief uh Don Johnson it is such a pleasure man to sit down with you brother hey man thank you so much Tim Don I I've enjoyed so many different performances you've given in either film and television over the years and I know you've played your share of law enforcement officers uh what was the challenge this time in taking on the role of the chief uh of police in this in the county for this film here well um you know I uh it was a uh for me it was the opportunity to work with Jeremy son who's who's uh quite a a brilliant filmmaker I mean just brilliant the the and then the the character was um it you think he's one thing and then it starts to change and morph and then you see a much bigger picture and then you see why he does the thing that he does that seems so horrible in the beginning and then you see I I mean let's face it he's a man with questionable morals but his heart's in the right place I was and I was to ask you about that because I wanted to find out as you played it or when you read it on paper how much of it was what you brought to it think with your perception along with Jeremy of how the character should be crafted because it comes across to me a certain way right and I understand to your point that he is doing what he's doing and he kind of lays it out and explains it sort of in the second act but how much of you were were how much of you did you put into that dime well um you know Jeremy is an aour filmmaker so I didn't put uh a lot of me personally in it uh we we we discussed I was very clear with Jeremy and and my friends here at Netflix that the um that the the movie I I did not want to make the movie that it that it uh pretended to be to start with you know that I I had no interest in that so when they said when they said to me oh it's not it's not about that and of course I read it and I went oh they're right it doesn't matter um uh te uh Terry uh Sims um played by Aon Aon Pierre right could have been a green man he could have been a white a blue man he could have been it don't matter because what the sheriff the sheriff is is in his mind he's robbing Hood he's not the he not kind sweet benevolent Robin Hood but he's Robinhood cuz he taken care of all these parishes or all these counties around him you know and and uh so that's what attracted me to it and I was going to say it's a very interesting story because to your point you're absolutely correct it does start off one way and then it it's like the layers start to peel un and you start to see more and more of the story I thought you guys did a really good job with that project Don thank you man look look but as it relates to you I you know I was stunned when I was going through doing research because you know I'm a man of a certain age yeah you're older than I am but I've seen you my entire life and I didn't realize how much work you had done um what keeps you going man you it's like five decades for you you know acting man what what keeps you going morphing into one character after other whether it's on the small screen the big screen that is so nice of you to frame it that way um you know I love what I do man I love what I do and I I I take it seriously when I when I when I step out there I I a healing takes place for them and for me and I I I I I hold that very close to my heart because people you know we're gone we're all we're all in this journey together and I'm going to teach you something and you're going to teach me something and we're gonna help each other out I heard that well Rebel Rebel Ridge is GNA hit Netflix on September the 6 uh I'm sure it's going to generate a lot of cont a lot of conversation not controversy a lot of conversation yeah Don it is a pleasure you gonna always be sunny Crocket to me but it's okay and you know what I'm okay with that D you take care man thanks for giving me some time today God bless you brother and right at you right back at you thank you for the your time all right you take [Music] oh [Music]