Bad Boys 4 Is Replacing a Key Franchise Character With a New Actress

By Kofi Outlaw

Bad Boys 4 is going to be replacing one of the biggest supporting characters in the Bad Boys franchise. Tasha Smith (HBO's The Corner, Empire) will be stepping into the role of Theresa Burnett, the wife of Martin Lawrence's Marcus Burnett in the Bad Boys franchise.

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(Photo: Paramount)

The role of Theresa was previously played by actress Theresa Randle in Bad Boys 1-3. Randle had not appeared in any TV/movie project for a decade before doing Bad Boys For Life, and it seemed she only did so for fans of the series – only to get viewers buzzing about where she'd been and how she looked. At age 59 this year, it's perfectly understandable if Theresa Randle is over her grace period for appearing in the Bad Boys movies – and onscreen in general. 

Bad Boys 4 is currently filming. The fourth installment will bring back Bad Boys for Life directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, with a script from Bad Boys 3 writer Chris Bremner. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence announced Bad Boys 4 at the start of the year; the pair re-appeared during Sony's panel at CinemaCon, telling fans that cameras are already rolling: "We are hyped, we excited! Fourth week of shooting!" 

The plot of Bad Boys 4 is being kept under wraps, but we do know that in addition to Will Smith and Martin Lawrence the returning cast will include Bad Boys For Life's special cop unit AMMO, which includes actors Paola Nuñez, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, and Charles Melton. New additions include Euphoria's Eric Dane as a new villain, and Fantastic Four's Ioan Gruffudd as a "a high-profile attorney running for election," which totally sounds like a big-bad villain role. 

Has Will Smith's Oscars Slap Affected Bad Boys 4? 

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Bad Boys 4 would conceivably be the biggest blockbuster film Will Smith has done since his infamous slap of Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars ceremony. As Sony chairman Tom Rothman made clear, the studio is not holding any grudges against Smith for his offscreen behavior: 

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"[Bad Boys 4] That movie's been in development and still is. There weren't any brakes to pump because the car wasn't moving," Rothman said during a press interview. "That was a very unfortunate thing that happened [at the Oscars], and I don't think it's really my place to comment, except to say that I've known Will Smith for many years, and I know him to be a good person. That was an example of a very good person having a very bad moment, in front of the world. I believe his apology and regret is genuine, and I believe in forgiveness and redemption."

Bad Boys 4 is currently shooting.

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