Clayne Crawford got too close to his 'Lethal Weapon' character in real life?
While no one could touch Martin Riggs on 'Lethal Weapon', his end came from someone in his family. In real life, the showrunners, his professional family if you may, cut off actor Clayne Crawford from the television spin-off of the legendary 1987 Richard Dinner buddy cop film. Poetic.
The actor is said to have been reportedly fired because of behavioral issues on the sets of the Fox drama. First one occurred when he is said to have become angry about what he felt were hazardous working conditions on the set. He reportedly had an outburst that he later made up with by completing therapy and paying a sum off his paycheck. The second one is said to have occurred when he was directing and the actor felt like the set was unsafe after he was hit was a fragment of shrapnel during the filming.
Crawford issued a statement after saying he's sorry that his "passion for doing good work has ever made anyone feel less than comfortable" on the set, or "feel less than celebrated for their efforts".
Lethal Weapon's season 2 finale aired right when the news was announced on Tuesday and I felt so many feels watching it, that I can only begin to describe as a slow but sure heartbreak. It's like Clayne was saying goodbye to us through Riggs when he said, "I'm not good with goodbyes." Neither are we, Clayne - not after we've come so far.
A cliffhanger of a season finale, if you're a fan, get ready with some tissues too along with a place to sit - it's emotional and surprising as hell. Roger Murtaugh (Damon Wayans, Sr.) becomes what his buddy Jake Voss was at the beginning of the story, the friend who saves him from his father. To say the scene is symbolic is an understatement - the troubled cop with a golden heart finding happiness at last only to be shot in the chest by his stepbrother.
First Martin finds himself taken advantage of by a friend (Jake) then his father, who he was sure wouldn't hurt him in spite of their rocky past becomes the reason for his demise. He dies next to his late wife Miranda's grave, bleeding out as he metaphorically did in the first season, right where he started as he told her he was moving on.
Clayne portrayed the character of Martin Riggs beautifully, pulling on heartstrings every time he shed a tear. His portrayal of the role was unbelievably believable - there was not one time in the entire series when you feel like rolling your eyes when it came to Martin Riggs. Let's be honest, we've had that with Roger Murtagh a lot. He even had made his own rendition of the classic tucking his messy curls behind his ears.
Perhaps, this character became him. From what we see, one can draw comparisons between the incidents and what goes on television and they are pretty much similar to each other. Riggs would create a scene, every single time.
Though he's been a part of dozens of films and made appearances in multiple television shows, this was the first time that he had actually landed a juicy role. In 2003, he won the Young Hollywood Award and was called "One to Watch" but somehow, he never got famous.
But this role became too close to who he was in real life. Being cast as Martin Riggs in 2016 was his ticket to success and ironically it also seems to have become his downfall.
In an interview with IGN in September 2016, he had revealed quite casually about the way he grew up in Alabama. The question was regarding his training to play Riggs, and he said, "Rural Alabama, when you're 12-years-old you get your first .22. I grew up with weapons. I think I've been preparing for this my whole life. It sounds ridiculous and cliche but I was an athlete growing up. The choreography of the fights was easy for me to pick up and I had wonderful stunt guys. Tim Trella and his team are just the best. None of it was difficult. It was just fun. I felt like a kid again."
He was also initially quite afraid of the fame he was gonna get with playing the role. In an interview with Esquire, he said, "I'm still terrified. I have a breakdown once a week. I've lived my life for 20 years and no one has a clue who I am. I took a path to do more indies and only focus on the work, and it's been beautiful. I have my family and my farm. I could go to the grocery store and no one cared. My family didn't care because I was doing stuff they didn't want to watch like Rectify."
The role had so much potential - we could have gone on and on watching him get the bad guys and fight his demons. It even got him an accolade - Riggs' character was nominated at the TV Critics' Choice Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series the same year 'Lethal Weapon' came out.
Since the network is looking to replace him, a third season is definitely underway. But what does that mean for the upcoming season? For starters, they would need to search till the ends of the earth to find someone who fit the role as well as Crawford did. He managed to recreate Mel Gibson's vibe from the original film, which is quite the uphill task in itself. But obviously, the show must go on.