Jimmy Fallon has a talent for digging up juicy tidbits from people’s pasts and when Wesley Snipes appeared on The Tonight Show this past week, Jimmy came through as always. Before talking about Snipes’ new show, The Player , premiering on NBC on September 24, Jimmy went back into Snipes’ past, to a time when he was just starting out – to a time when he was in Michael Jackson’s video Bad . As Rolling Stone reported, Snipes talked about how he auditioned and was chosen by Martin Scorsese and Quincy Jones .
“I auditioned for Scorsese and Q – Quincy Jones – and they selected me out of, I don’t know, maybe hundreds of guys who auditioned.”
During the experience, Snipes told Jimmy Fallon how he ended up becoming Jackson’s “de-facto bodyguard in Harlem.”
Apparently, Michael was a little scared of all the fans that had gathered, some of whom didn’t like him so well. But Snipes took care of him.
Jimmy Fallon also zeroed in on Wesley Snipes’ big missed opportunity. Despite Snipes’ fame, he missed out on Fame , literally. Having grown up in the Bronx, Snipes attended the performing arts high school in the neighborhood that later became known as the Fame high school. His family moved to Florida just before they cast the film and started production, but all his old high school friends were in it.
Talk between Jimmy Fallon and Wesley Snipes did eventually turn to The Player , a conspiracy show set in Las Vegas. Snipes described the premise of the show, rich gamblers betting on predictions of future crime, and Snipes plays the role of Mr. Johnson, whose job it is to be the pit boss and keep everyone in line. Being Wesley Snipes, he does his job well – very well.
Wesley Snipes has discussed his new show with a number of people aside from Jimmy Fallon. It’s definitely a hot topic these days. Hollywood Outbreak reported that Snipes liked the script when he read it.
“It was one of the better action scripts that came across my desk. The idea of doing something where I wouldn’t be restricted to just playing one character – I can explore accents and disguises. That makes it very attractive.”
It sure was fun to see Snipes on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon , but it might just be even better to see him kicking some booty in The Player .
[Photo: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Youtube Channel]