Michael Clarke Duncan: 1957-2012
In his own words, Hart Hanson, creator of "Bones" spinoff "The Finder" for Fox, talks about the larger-than-life legacy the "Green Mile" Oscar nominee, who died Sept. 3, leaves behind.
He was exactly not right for the part on The Finder, which spun off from Bones. The part of Leo, a former lawyer who owns a bar in Key West, Fla., was written for someone who was more like Sam Shepard:
an old, white, skinny cowboy. The casting and studio people called and asked if there was a place for Michael Clarke Duncan, and I said yes. I completely rewrote the character for Michael because he hadn’t done TV before. He was a huge presence, and I believe he was destined to be a big TV star. A lot of actors are nothing like what you see, but MCD was very much like what you see onscreen: that big smile, that big voice, not a bit of a bully to him. He doesn’t alpha-male anybody, though he could alpha-male anyone he wanted. He was just a genuinely good guy.
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