Eddie Murphy has by no means struggled to search out work.
The “Coming to America” star, 63, just lately revealed that he’s solely needed to audition for one position in his virtually 50-year profession.
Murphy opened up about his early profession and first few gigs within the new Apple TV+ documentary “Number One on the Call Sheet.” He urged his fame and success as an actor have been inevitable – particularly after he landed a task on “Saturday Night Live” in 1980.
“Early on, I just knew I was going to be fa — I started when I’m around 16, I’m going, ‘I’m gonna be famous,’” the “Beverly Hills Cop” actor stated within the new two-part documentary.
“When I was 19, I got ‘Saturday Night Live,’ and things just started happening,” Murphy continued. “I didn’t go through all of the stuff that a lot of actors, I didn’t go through auditions.”
He then revealed the one – and apparently solely – performing job he has ever needed to audition for.
“I had one audition in my whole life,” the “Boomerang” star stated. “I think I’m the only actor that could say that. I had one audition. It was for ‘Saturday Night Live.’”
After Murphy landed a spot on “SNL” in 1980, subsequent performing roles began pouring in.
He starred within the buddy cop motion comedy flick “48 Hrs.” with Nick Nolte in 1982, adopted by “Trading Places” in 1983 after which “Beverly Hills Cop” in 1984. Murphy’s newest film, because the voice of Donkey in “Shrek 5,” is scheduled to launch subsequent yr.
Murphy additionally mentioned the recommendation he acquired from Hollywood stalwart Sidney Poitier, heavyweight boxing champ Larry Holmes, and singer James Brown.
Poitier, who handed away in 2022 on the age of 94, reportedly satisfied Murphy to not play “Roots” creator Alex Haley in a deliberate adaptation of the author’s “The Autobiography of Malcolm X.”
“Around that same time, I bumped into Sidney Poitier at something, and I asked him, ‘Yeah, I’m thinking about playing Alex Haley!’” he recalled. “And Sidney Poitier said, ‘You are not Denzel [Washington], and you are not Morgan [Freeman]. You are a breath of fresh air, and don’t f–k with that!’”
“I didn’t know if it was an insult or a compliment,” Murphy added. “I was like, ‘What?’”
As for Holmes, he reportedly informed Murphy, “Don’t forget where you came from,” whereas Brown suggested him to “stop cursing and to bury his millions in the woods.”
“And I said, ‘Why bury my money in the woods?’ ” Murphy continued within the new Apple TV+ documentary. “He said, ‘The government will take it from you. So bury it.’ And I said, ‘But can’t the government take your land?’ And he said, ‘But they won’t know where the money is.’ That’s a true story. That’s the kind of advice I used to get.”
“I was in uncharted waters,” Murphy added. “For Sidney and all those guys, when I showed up, it was something kind of new. They didn’t have a reference for me.”
“Number One on the Call Sheet” was launched on March 28. It explores the experiences of Black actors in Hollywood. Half one focuses on Black males within the trade and options interviews with not simply Murphy but additionally actors like Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, Jamie Foxx and Will Smith.
Murphy’s declare that he solely ever needed to audition for “SNL” additionally comes after the comic returned to the present for its fiftieth anniversary particular in February. He performed Tracy Morgan within the return of the favored sketch “Black Jeopardy.”
