Don Johnson on ‘Doctor Odyssey,’ ‘Miami Vice’ Memories & What He Really Thought About Acting With an Alligator (Exclusive)

PACIFIC PALISADES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 18: Don Johnson attends the premiere for ABC's 'Doctor Odyssey' at Bel-Air Bay Club on September 18, 2024 in Pacific Palisades, California.
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images

Don Johnson first hit TV screens in 1984 as Sonny Crockett, the yacht-dwelling, alligator-owning Metro-Dade Police detective on Miami Vice. 40 years later, Johnson has moved past those bold pastel suits and tossed aside the badge, but he is once again on a boat, playing the captain of a luxury cruise ship on ABC’s Doctor Odyssey, which returns from its midseason hiatus with new episodes beginning Thursday, March 6 — a role he finds very relatable, being a boat captain himself.

He recently sat down with us to discuss what makes his new character relatable, how he feels about Miami Vice‘s influence in fashion, and what it was actually like to act opposite an alligator.

What can you tell us about the return of Doctor Odyssey?

Don Johnson: It [starts with] a two-part episode called “Shark Attack.” There’s definitely a shark and maybe a few sharks. I can’t tell you what happens after that, [but] Doctor Odyssey is meant to be edgier and push the boundaries a little bit. I look at Doctor Odyssey as like a dream. It’s like you go into a dream and a whole bunch of things happen and not necessarily anything you’ve ever seen before.

DOCTOR ODYSSEY - "Episode TBDÓ (Disney/Tina Thorpe)PHILLIPA SOO, SEAN TEALE, MARCUS EMANUEL MITCHELL, JOSHUA JACKSON

Disney/Tina Thorpe

What’s it like behind the scenes? Do you all get along?

It’s a blast. We all get along famously. It’s really kind of extraordinary. I love making the show and I love making it with these people. I’ve got to tell you something about Ryan Murphy. Ryan Murphy is a genius, not just in what he’s accomplished in his shows, but he’s a genius in how he reads people’s energy. He just gets this world. And in terms of casting this show and casting all his other shows, he is somewhat of a genius. It’s amazing.

DOCTOR ODYSSEY - ABC's ÒDoctor OdysseyÓ stars Don Johnson as Captain Massey.

Disney/Pari Dukovic

Do you like playing Captain Robert Massey? Do you find him relatable?

A hundred percent.

Does it make you want to be a captain of a ship?

I am the captain.

I know, but I mean in real life.

I mean in real life. I am the captain of the ship. I am the ship and I am the captain of it.

Are you speaking in metaphor or do you actually have a ship?

I’m speaking both in metaphor and in what people call the real world.

Okay! I’ll have to mull that one over a bit.  Let’s take a trip down memory lane. Since ’80s fashions are coming back in style, do you think Crockett’s look from Miami Vice still holds up?

It’s kind of perennial. I don’t think I’ve seen a Halloween go by without a Crockett and Tubbs duo somewhere. Of course, then it was done because it was an homage to the characters in the show. And now I think if you showed up at a party like that, they’d say, “Where’s your costume?”

MIAMI VICE, Don Johnson, 1984-1989.

Courtesy of Everett

Did you get to keep any of your suits?

I made that show for five years in [Florida]. So I promise you, by the end of the day, you didn’t want to go near those suits.

Did you keep anything perhaps less sweaty from set? 

I’m not a look-back kind of guy. When I make ’em, I just go forward. But I did get a Ferrari out of the deal. That was a nice gift.

What was it like working with Elvis, your pet alligator? 

Well, let me just put it this way: I had a healthy respect for him. Alligators have not evolved one nanosecond since the Mesozoic era. I think David Letterman asked me if he was a trained alligator, and I gave him this response: I said, “When you’re a perfect machine, you don’t need any training. In fact, you cannot be trained. You’ve just evolved into perfection.”  I had a healthy respect for him, and we went through protocols to make sure that I didn’t become part of Elvis’ DNA.

MIAMI VICE -- "Golden Triangle" Episode 13 -- Air Date 01/11/1985 -- Pictured: (l-r) Don Johnson as Detective James 'Sonny' Crockett and his pet alligator Elvis

NBCU Photo Bank

Were you scared of him?

The only thing you have to know is we had his mouth taped mostly. Then when we’d roll the camera, they would have to cut the tape off. And so he was live then. 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 back flips. But you manage.

I feel like that’s such an ’80s thing to do. Putting an alligator on a show.

Well, it’s never been done before. Only in the eighties. So maybe that’s why it feels that way.

What was the weirdest job you had prior to acting?

Well, I sold women’s shoes. That’s a pretty odd job.

MIAMI VICE, Don Johnson, Philip Michael Thomas, 1984-1989.

Ray Fairall/Courtesy: Everett Collection.

That’s so Al Bundy of you!

I got to be quite good at it because women lie about the size of their feet. They always say it’s smaller. I got to be an expert at looking at women’s feet and saying, “Hmm, that’s not a six.”

Has that skill come in handy over the years?

Well, yeah, but I can’t talk about it.

Fair enough. Other than Doctor Odyssey, what shows do you like watching?

That’s a tough one to answer because I don’t really watch television. I don’t watch movies either. I like sports.

How do you feel about your daughter, Dakota Johnson, following in your footsteps? Do you like that she’s acting or did you want her to do something else?

She’s pretty good, isn’t she? Well, I think that ship has already sailed. You maybe should have asked me that question when she was graduating high school. She’s awesome. She has a lot of dad in her.

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