Eddie Murphy discusses ‘Coming to America’ and its new sequel
In a career that spans 40 years, one thing remains the same about Eddie Murphy: the infectious, staccato laugh that starts in his chest and makes his face, neck and shoulders shake.
All his life, it has been the same thing. “I’ll hear, ‘ED-DIE! ED-DIE! Do the laugh!’ It’s not a special effect. It just comes naturally.
“Or I’d hear, ‘I know that laugh anywhere. Hi, ED-DIE’ ” Murphy says.
Laughter has been good for Murphy, who Zooms in from his Los Angeles home on a cool winter morning. In a black sweater with black glasses, he looks every bit the movie star.
Behind the former standup and “Saturday Night Live” star is a dazzling collection of crystal awards. In front of him (career-wise) is the sequel to one of his biggest hits. “Coming 2 America” debuts March 5 on Amazon Prime.
Murphy reprises his many roles in the film, including Prince Akeem. This time around, the African monarch learns he has a long-lost son in America. He must travel from Africa to New York to find his heir and figure out how to marry him off to save his kingdom.
In real life, Murphy, 59, is a homebody with 10 kids and a career that took him from middle-class kid in the New York suburbs to cultural phenomenon.
Review-Journal: Let’s talk for a moment about the legacy of 1988’s “Coming to America,” which is one of your career highlights.
Eddie Murphy: It’s actually an amazing legacy. The original “Coming to America” is actually the first movie in the history of movies that had an all-Black cast that was successful financially all around the world. The very first one ever. There are just a handful of movies that have had all-Black casts that have been successful around the world. You can count them on one hand and still have fingers left.
Why did this story of an African prince shunning an arranged marriage and looking for true love hit such a nerve worldwide?
It’s accessible to all audiences. The reason our movies don’t go around the world is our story is special to us. Around the world they don’t give a (expletive) about our stuff. Our movies shine a light on social injustice. They don’t give a (expletive). But with “Coming to America,” this film was different because it was about a universal story — family. It’s about love, tradition and doing the right thing. You realize that people aren’t so different. They just want a story that feels real to them.
Why has it taken so long to create a sequel?
This is five years of work to bring to the screen. It was maybe about three drafts of the script. Once we got it into a certain structure and found the narrative thread that was strong enough, I finally said, “OK, we have a movie here, but we just need to bring in a younger writer to put that modern spin on it. Enter Kenya Barris (“Black-ish”).
This film is a who’s who of Black actors, including James Earl Jones, Wesley Snipes, John Amos, Arsenio Hall, Tracy Morgan and even your daughter Bella Murphy, who plays your on-screen daughter. Why was this important to you?
We wanted to bring as many people back from the first movie as possible. We needed to connect those dots. You wanted to believe that these people would still be together living their happily ever after. Beyond that, we just kept adding friends.
Leslie Jones is a newcomer who plays your baby mama. She said that when you walked out on the set for the first time as the King, she gasped and said “Oh, my God.”
That’s how it always be when I walk into a room. (He laughs.) Honestly, I don’t dissect those moments. I just walk in the room. Also, I have to say that she is just so funny in this movie. There is a blooper reel somewhere. There were moments with Leslie where I just lost it.
You are the father of 10 children. Did your kids watch “Coming to America” growing up?
The first movie was rated R, so they couldn’t see it until a certain age. My daughter Bella saw it at age 11. She told me it was the first time she ever saw Black royalty, which is really awesome.
You play several characters again, including the old man in the barbershop. Is it still hell putting on the old-age makeup?
Originally, one of the ideas was for me to play the witch doctor and also Wesley Snipes’ general role. Then I started thinking about how long it would take me to do those makeup (sessions). The witch doctor alone is six hours. Arsenio said, “I’ll do it!” And I said, “OK.” … It took Arsenio six hours that day to get the makeup put on.
Then it was 4:30 in the morning and he had two hours of breakdown where they take the makeup off. He’s sitting in the makeup chair crying and I said, “What’s wrong?” He said, “My eye is tearing.” I said, “I’m glad that it’s you and not me crying at Tyler Perry Studios at 4:30 in the morning.”
Wasn’t someone else supposed to play the witch doctor?
Dave Chappelle wanted to do the witch doctor. He told people, “I’m going to do ‘Coming 2 America.’ It didn’t work out scheduling-wise, which was a shame.
Maybe next time. I got a third one on my mind.
What’s an ideal Sunday for you?
I’m hanging out at home, chilling. At my age that seems like the thing. I love being around the house. I don’t do the computer thing. I just want to be around my kids. I’m happy.