Jimmy Smits auditioned for In the Heights with a clip of him singing "Duke of Earl" on NYPD Blue

Just Jared

“We were scrambling putting together little video clips of me singing 'Duke of Earl' with Dennis Franz in the squad car or a little song flourish in West Wing,” Smits tells USA Today. “It wasn’t heavy lifting on the musical thing. But I still had to kind of convince them that I could do it.”