Key Insights
- Eddie Murphy reflects on his career in the Netflix documentary Being Eddie.
- The film explores Murphy’s journey from the ’80s to his iconic roles and life lessons.
- Murphy discusses his upcoming projects, including portrayals of George Clinton and in The Pink Panther.
“What voice is Eddie’s?” The upcoming Netflix documentary on the life of the multifaceted Eddie Murphy, Being Eddie, sets out to answer that very question his mother used to ask him. The documentary explores the meteoric rise of the Oscar-nominated comedic phenomenon, from his teens to his Saturday Night Live breakout, and how he defined the stage of ‘80s blockbuster comedies.
From Academy Award winner Angus Wall (The Social Network, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), Being Eddie offers fans an intimate portrait behind the camera of a true comedy titan. In addition to exclusive interviews with Murphy and archival footage, family, friends, and colleagues share the Eddie they know from SNL days to the sets of classic movies like The Nutty Professor, Beverly Hills Cop, and Dreamgirls. The documentary shares testimonials from stars like Chris Rock, Jamie Foxx, Arsenio Hall, Dave Chappelle, Tracee Ellis Ross, Jerry Seinfeld, Kevin Hart, Pete Davidson, and Tracy Morgan.
In this interview, Collider’s Steve Weintraub talks with Murphy about only a handful of the topics Being Eddie dives into. Murphy reflects on the tumultuous ‘80s and how he avoided the pitfalls celebrity can present, how fellow comedian Pauly Shore inadvertently changed his life one night at the Comedy Store, and discusses his return to SNL and the “hard left” his career is about to take, portraying George Clinton in the upcoming biopic, and a beloved childhood favorite.
Eddie Murphy Calls This Comedy Series “the Best Show on TV”
He likens the long-running series to the avant-garde of Alejandro Jodorowsky.
COLLIDER: In the doc you talk about this, and you told me this many years ago during an interview, about your love of Ridiculousness, and so I need to ask, what are you going through? Because the show has been canceled.
EDDIE MURPHY: Did Ridiculousness get canceled?
They finally canceled it.
MURPHY: Well, Ridiculousness will live on and on and on and on because they have a gazillion episodes. I wonder why they canceled. Did they cancel it or did they quit?
You know something? I don’t know what happened, but they’re not making any more.
MURPHY: I would imagine that Rob [Dyrdek] probably said, “We’ve got enough of these. Let’s move on.” Because why would they stop? It’s the best show on television. It’s the best show on TV.
It makes me laugh. Some of those episodes, though, show some stuff, and I’m convinced someone died right after the camera ended because they show crazy stuff sometimes.
MURPHY: But you know what I love about the show? The audience is the star of the show. It’s no stars, no needle, no anybody’s names, you can’t make any judgments, and it’s all around the world. You see something, and it’d be like, “What was that?” Then they’re on to something else. It’s like you can’t beat it. I likened it to Alejandro Jodorowsky’s movies, who directed El Topo,Santa Sangre, andThe Holy Mountain. He’s a really avant-garde director, andRidiculousness makes me think of his movies with similar and crazy imagery.
Pauly Shore Accidentally Changed Eddie Murphy’s Life
“You don’t even look like yourself tonight.”
I thought the doc was excellent. One of the things I’ve always wondered about you, which the doc goes into, is how you survived the ‘80s when so many others had drugs and drinking and all these other problems. You talk about how that never interested you, but did you ever come close? Was there ever any peer pressure, or did you have the ability to be like, “Fuck off. I’m not interested?”
MURPHY: I never had any interest in hard stuff. I smoked weed. When I turned 30, I smoked weed. And I had one time in my 20s where I went to the dentist, and the dentist gave me Percocet. I remember I was sitting at the dining room table, and I said, “I feel good!” [Laughs] A guy who worked for me was like, “Yeah, that’s them damn Percocets, man.” I was like, “Really? Oh, wow.” So, I finished that prescription. I remember finishing that Percocet prescription.
You know what made me stop taking them? He doesn’t even know this story. I was at a club. I was at the Comedy Store, and I had taken a Percocet and I had smoked a joint, and that combination’ll make you feel… So, I was sitting at the club, and Pauly Shore came up to me, who owns the Comedy Store, a comedian, and he was like, “Hey, you don’t even look like yourself tonight.” And I was like, “Really? Who do I look like?” And he said, “Some other dude,” and walked away, and I was like, “Hey, I’m not fucking with this no more.” He said I looked like “some other dude.” I was like, “What was I looking like?” [Laughs]
‘Saturday Night Live’ Is Still Home for Eddie Murphy
The comedian and actor shares advice to live by.
You’ve done so many things throughout your career. If you could actually go back to the beginning and tell yourself some advice, is there anything you would say, like, “Don’t do that project,” or “You should have said yes to this?” Or is the trajectory perfect?
MURPHY: I don’t have any regrets over any of the work that I did. Because even the few things that sucked, you learn something from them, and I made a bunch of money to do it, so I can’t be sitting around talking shit about that stuff. So everything worked out the way it was supposed to.
The advice that I would give myself is don’t take it too seriously. This is a game, and it should be fun. You make people laugh for a living so you should be having fun when you’re doing this. So I try to only do stuff that I’m having fun with. If I’m having fun then the audience is going to laugh. I’ve never ever ever once had fun doing something and it didn’t work.
The doc gets into when you came back to SNL and hosted right before COVID in December 2019. It is an effing spectacular episode when you came back and I’m so curious—and I think I speak for all SNL fans—do you think you’ll ever do it again?
MURPHY: Absolutely. Absolutely. Just looking for the right moment and right time and stuff. But absolutely. SNL is part of culture. I feel like part of it is home. I’ve always—even when I hadn’t gone back to show for years—I still felt a connection to show. I feel a kinship with everyone who’s ever worked on that show and been involved with that show. I feel connected to them. So absolutely I’d go back.
I honestly hope it’s this season.
Eddie Murphy Is About to Take a “Hard Left”
His next two projects see the actor taking on two roles that couldn’t be “further away from each other.”
I am so curious about you playing George Clinton and The Pink Panther, which I’ve heard are your next two projects. What can you tease about your version of George Clinton? Have you been practicing? What can you say?
MURPHY: I’ve just been watching a lot of George Clinton stuff. It’s funny—you can’t think of two characters further away from each other than Inspector Clouseau and George Clinton. It’s like a hard left.You know when I do something—when I do a character in a movie that I’m playing—there’s not a lot of studying or anything involved. I’ll watch some films—like when I did Rudy Ray Moore—I watched some stuff—and with George Clinton I’ll watch some stuff too—then once I’ve got a pretty good idea of their rhythms I’m going to play it then there’s no other prep involved.
Being Eddie premieres on Netflix on November 12.
