By the same token, Tapia can’t help but flirt with danger, Mollà continues. "He appreciates Syd, who had infiltrated his organization, because he likes people who take risks. He even offers her a job. It’s a strange relationship. It’s like he enjoys playing with danger."
Tapia has a business partner who quickly becomes his main competitor and is soon trying to muscle in on his turf. Peter Stormare, who has previously appeared in such Bruckheimer productions as Armageddon and Bad Company, plays Russian mobster Alexei.
"We couldn’t find the part for Peter, so Michael and I promised him we’d come up with one," laughs Bruckheimer. "That’s what’s so wonderful about working with Michael. He’ll find an actor like Peter who he feels is really talented, and convince that actor to accept a part that’s maybe three lines, and the two of them will work on it together and suddenly the small role becomes a serious character in the movie. Peter isn’t in a lot of scenes, but his character and his performance are memorable."
Stormare agreed to tackle the role because of his strong working experience with Bay on Armageddon. "I didn’t want to play a Russian the way they are normally portrayed," claims Stormare. "It was great to play Lev in Armageddon because he saved the Americans, which was so unusual. I still get more than 1,000 fan letters a year specifically about that role. So, I gave the vengeance Alexei tries to wreak on Tapia the flavor of something out of the wild, wild west," says Stormare. "In Miami there’s still a bit of that. It was great to play a character who added flavor to the drink, like the twist of lime."
Jason Manuel Olazábal (Detective Vargas) and Yul Vázquez (Detective Reyes) are two new faces in this second Bad Boys adventure. As members of the T.N.T. team, Vargas and Reyes are in constant competition with Burnett and Lowrey. "I cast these two great guys as foils for Marcus and Mike," Bay says. "A lot of times actors will try to go up against Will and Martin to be funny and it doesn’t work. Even in the audition process they think they have to be funny, but that’s not their job. Yul and Jason got it. I wanted to put Will and Martin around serious characters and let the humor come out of their quirky sensibilities."
"In the movie we’re frustrated with Marcus and Mike," explains Olazábal. "Even though we’re on the same team, we’re competitive and always trying to outdo one another. The more they mess up, the better we look."
"It’s a love-hate relationship," adds Vázquez. "Reyes and Vargas are of Cuban descent. The minute someone brings up something about being Cuban, you’ve crossed the line as far as my character is concerned. We were ad-libbing everywhere and as soon as the A.D. yelled ‘Cut!’ you could hear the whole crew laugh. It was an instant response, so we knew immediately if it was funny."
Movie Database
In Theaters
