What Happened To The Cast Of The Miami Vice TV Series?

It's been over 30 years since television audiences were first plunged into the sun-soaked world of "Miami Vice." Inarguably still one of the most impactful police procedurals of all time, the hit NBC series has been a hot target for studios despite driving into the sunset in 1989. Legendary crime filmmaker Michael Mann (who executive produced the original series) gave it a bit of a cultural boost in 2006 by way of a film adaptation starring Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx, and while that film might be significantly underrated, it's hard to argue that Farrell and Foxx capture the same magic as the original Crockett and Tubbs.

"Miami Vice" had a knack for finding hot talent before the rest of Hollywood, featuring the likes of Ben Stiller, Liam Neeson, and Bruce Willis early in their careers. But especially after rumors of a rebooted series began in 2014, the question of who could possibly fill the shoes of such a blazing star duo as Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas became paramount (at one point, Vin Diesel was even in the mix). With the recent announcement that Austin Butler and Michael B. Jordan are in talks to headline a new film adaptation from "Top Gun: Maverick" director Joseph Kosinski, we couldn't help but wonder what became of the "Miami Vice" cast after the series came to an end.

After being cast and immediately killed off in the pilot episode of "Miami Vice" (as Calderone drug cartel lieutenant Trini DeSoto), Martin Ferrero was asked to return to the series properly later on in the first season, this time as the charming con man-turned-informant Izzy Moreno. The character popped up fairly frequently throughout the rest of the show's run, last seen running a seminar scam alongside his partner Manny (Dean Stockwell) in the season 5 episode "Too Much, Too Late."

Ferrero landed another prominent recurring guest star role soon after "Miami Vice" ended on the short-lived NBC legal drama "Shannon's Deal," which ran for just two short seasons until 1991. At the movies, supporting roles in back-to-back Sylvester Stallone flops "Oscar" and the infamous "Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot" ultimately gave way to what is arguably his most well-known role outside Izzy in "Miami Vice," that of corporate attorney Donald Gennaro in Steven Spielberg's 1993 masterpiece "Jurassic Park" (pictured above). Ferrero's most recent on-screen performance as of writing is as a parody of Gennaro for a College Humor sketch in 2011 (in 2015, his voice was also used for the video game "LEGO Jurassic World").

Ferrero appeared in other films as well, including Barry Sonnenfeld's crime comedy "Get Shorty" and the acclaimed Michael Mann thriller "Heat" (both in 1995). He continued to guest star on popular television series (such as "The Practice," "The X-Files," and "Nash Bridges") through the '90s but largely left acting behind by 2001. He keeps a low public profile, but he has participated in interviews as recently as 2025.

Though John Diehl made quite an impact as Detective Larry Zito on "Miami Vice," neither the role nor the series were ever all that exciting to the actor. He had been working consistently in small, supporting roles for about four years when NBC offered him the chance to be part of the series main cast — a moment that, for whatever reason, Diehl didn't reflect on fondly after his sooner-than-expected exit during season 3 in 1987. In an interview with the LA Times from 1992, he describes his time on "Miami Vice" as constricting, an unrewarding job he'd wanted to get out of almost as soon as he'd signed his contract. Either because of the terms of that contract or the grueling schedule of making a TV show, Diehl was kept from acting in other work. Having made no secret of his dissatisfaction, he was mercifully killed off and released from production.

After leaving "Miami Vice," Diehl returned to the film industry where his presence steadily grew. Notable projects include the 1987 Ed Harris-led western "Walker," the Drew Barrymore comedy "Motorama," the Michael Douglas thriller "Falling Down," Joel Schumacher's "The Client," and the franchise-launching James Spader science fiction adventure film "Stargate." 

By 1995, he was landing larger roles in films like "Nixon" and "A Time to Kill" while continuing to guest star on popular TV series like "ER," "JAG," "The Outer Limits," and "The X-Files." This trend steadied and held strong through the 2000s and 2010s, with appearances on shows like "The West Wing," "The Shield" (as Assistant Chief Ben Gilroy), "Cold Case," "Friday Night Lights," "Scandal," and "Snowfall." In 2022, he played Fred Trump in the James Gray film "Armageddon Time" (pictured above), which also starred Anne Hathaway and "Succession" alum Jeremy Strong.

"Miami Vice" ended in 1989, which just so happens to be the same year Martin Castillo actor Edward James Olmos earned his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for the film "Stand and Deliver." Afterwards, he immediately returned his focus to the film industry, landing starring roles in "Triumph of the Spirit" and "Talent for the Game." Both films were directed by Robert M. Young, who subsequently produced Olmos' "American Me" in 1992. Directed by Olmos, the film is a mafia epic that follows the rise of a powerful Mexican mob boss who operates in Los Angeles. The character, based on the life of Rodolfo Cadena, was portrayed by Olmos himself. In 2024, "American Me" was deemed historically significant enough to be preserved by the National Film Registry.

Olmos' next major television series came in 2003, in the form of the behemoth "Battlestar Galactica" franchise. He starred as Commander William Adama in the flagship series and several television specials until the program's end in 2009. By this point both a pop culture icon and a celebrated actor, Olmos spent the ensuing decade appearing in a wide variety of projects, including would-be blockbusters like "The Green Hornet" and "2 Guns," hit genre programs like "Dexter" (playing one-half of the Doomsday Killer duo in season 6), Marvel's "Agents of SHIELD," and bizarre, self-referential works like the IFC sketch comedy series "Portlandia" and Casey Affleck's "I'm Still Here." 

Most notably, Olmos reprised his role as Gaff for Denis Villeneuve's "Blade Runner 2049" in 2017, then went on to star in the FX series "Mayans F.C." (a spin-off of "Sons of Anarchy" that ran from 2018 to 2023). He is currently slated to appear in the upcoming feature "Office Romance."

Michael Talbott was already fairly deep into his acting career when he was cast as Detective Stan Switek on "Miami Vice." He had enjoyed notable guest starring appearances on other popular programs like "Sanford and Son," "Kingston: Confidential," "M*A*S*H," "Eight is Enough," and "The Jeffersons," and had played supporting roles in major films like "Carrie," "Any Which Way You Can," "First Blood," and "National Lampoon's Vacation." He also appeared in Michael Mann's "Manhunter" in 1986.

"Miami Vice" remains his most prominent project, however, with Talbott's filmography keeping pace with his pre-"Vice" work before tapering out in the early 2000s. Starting in 1993, he began starring in the "Jack Read" series of television, which were made for NBC. They followed the investigations of the titular homicide detective, played by the late actor and acclaimed TV movie star Brian Dennehy. Talbott's only other television credits after "Miami Vice" were guest starring roles on "Booker," "Sugar and Spice," and "Fighting the Fitzgeralds," as well as the TV movies "Out There" and "Three Blind Mice."

The latter film was released in 2001, at which point Talbott seemingly took an indefinite hiatus from acting, returning only for a short film in 2014 titled "Sal and the Goon" which was written and directed by Magnus Diehl, the son of his former "Miami Vice" co-star John Diehl (who also appeared in the short). An outspoken advocate of the National Rifle Association, Talbott was at one point working with the company Panteao Productions, which produces educational videos promoting firearm ownership, safety, and use. They currently produce firearm content for their online channel Make Ready TV (seen above), though Talbott's continued involvement is unclear.

Having made her professional screen acting debut in 1982's "48 Hrs." — the film that arguably defined the buddy cop genre as we know it — Olivia Brown was perfectly suited for "Miami Vice." For all five seasons, she played Detective Trudy Joplin.

Once "Miami Vice" had come to a close, Brown guest starred on the CBS western "Paradise," the Syfy Channel anthology series "Monsters," and "Family Matters" before landing a recurring arc on the fourth season of the sitcom "Designing Women" (that same year in 1990, she starred in a TV film titled "Memories of Murder," over a decade before Bong Joon Ho's film of the same name). Her career continued in this way through the '90s and early 2000s, a mixture of one-off guest starring appearances and recurring stints on popular series.

She was cast as Denise on season 3 of the sitcom "Dear John" in 1990 and then went on to guest star on shows like "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," "The Sinbad Show," and "Sister, Sister" through the first half of the decade. This was followed by a string of recurring roles on "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman," "Beverly Hills, 90210," "Moesha," and "7th Heaven." She did not appear in any films or television shows from 2003 to 2009, and has only acted in five films total in the past 15 years. She is set to star in the upcoming feature "Kid Paranormal" from director Joe Mexican (pictured above).

Saundra Santiago was a fresh name in Hollywood when she was cast as Detective Gina Calabrese on "Miami Vice," having only guest starred on "¿Qué Pasa, U.S.A.?" and appeared in the films "Beat Street" and "The End of August" through the first five years of her career. When the series ended in 1989, she didn't appear in another film or television show until a 1992 episode of "ABC Afterschool Specials." The following year (in addition to making an uncredited cameo in "Carlito's Way"), she began appearing in a string of unrelated made-for-TV crime thrillers and dramas, before making her way back to cinemas at the end of the decade with "Nick and Jane" and "Hi-Life."

In 1999, she began recurring on the CBS soap opera "Guiding Light," playing Carmen Santos. That same year, she made her debut on "The Sopranos" as Jean Cusamano, the next-door neighbor of the titular family. After leaving "Guiding Light" in 2003, she recurred on the first season of the FX legal drama "Damages" and then landed another recurring soap gig on "One Life to Live." Santiago has mostly worked as a guest star for the past decade on popular series like "True Detective," the Kevin Bacon cult thriller "The Following," Fox's "Gotham," "Blue Bloods," "Snowfall," and "Madam Secretary." Her most recent projects as of writing is the 2023 features "Rare Objects" (from Katie Holmes, pictured above) "Don Q."

In contrast with Saundra Santiago, Philip Michael Thomas was no newcomer when "Miami Vice" came along. He made his debut in "Come Back Charleston Blue" in 1972, in well over two-dozen films and television shows, including episodes of "Wonder Woman," "Starsky and Hutch," and "Roots: The Next Generations." By 1984, his ambitions were vivid — he publicly dedicated himself to earning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony before the 1990s, coining and popularizing the now oft-used term EGOT (in part through a piece of jewelry he would wear bearing the acronym).

Though Thomas has not been nominated for any of the four awards, his career has been as varied as he'd hoped. He continued to act for the decade after the finale of "Miami Vice," guest starring on "Superboy," "Zorro," and "Swamp Thing." His final television role was on an episode of "Nash Bridges" in 2001 (seen above). Thomas also notably voiced the video game character Lance Vance, seen in the video game "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City."

During his time on "Miami Vice," Thomas recorded two studio albums, "Living the Book of My Life" in 1985 and "Somebody" in 1988. Since then, he has written and produced the musical "Sacha on Broadway" (based on his album and book "Sacha and the Magic Cookie Maker"), written songs for Dionne Warwick, and started a music project called "The Horn and the Voice" with the late jazz trumpeter Melton Mustafa.

Of course, if there's one actor even younger readers are likely to recognize from the cast of "Miami Vice," it's Don Johnson. The actor, who anchored the series with Philip Michael Thomas as James "Sonny" Crockett, has been fortunate enough to enjoy a decade-spanning career on screen since the series' final episode, regularly starring or being featured in major films and television shows.

Following a few film roles in the early '90s, Johnson returned to television to star in and executive produce "Nash Bridges," another hit police procedural, this time for CBS. It had an even longer run than "Miami Vice," bowing after six seasons and 122 episodes. The decade that followed its end in 2001 could be described as relatively quiet for Johnson — though it still saw him star in the series "Just Legal" and recur on "Glenn Martin DDS" and "Eastbound and Down."

Johnson's contemporary resurgence quietly began with his supporting role in "Django Unchained," which was followed by prominent roles in "From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series," "Blood and Oil," and the Netflix adaptation of "A Series of Unfortunate Events." In 2019, he was cast in both the Rian Johnson murder mystery hit "Knives Out" and the HBO sequel series to the comic book "Watchmen," both of which were critically acclaimed. 

In 2021, he revived "Nash Bridges" for a sequel film, and he also starred in the sitcom "Kenan," the films "Book Club" and "Book Club: The Next Chapter," the sleeper-hit Netflix thriller "Rebel Ridge," and Ryan Murphy's "Doctor Odyssey" (pictured above). As of writing, he's attached to the films "Score" (from "Halloween" reviver David Gordon Green) and "Encore" (from "Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale" director Simon Curtis).