‘Coming 2 America’ Star Eddie Murphy Said His Highest-Paying Movies Were the Least Fun To Make
Eddie Murphy is one of the most successful comedians to ever step foot on a stage. The former Saturday Night Live star made a name for himself doing standup and sketch comedy but quickly transitioned into acting in big-screen roles.
Movies such as Beverly Hills Cop and Coming to America proved that Murphy was a bankable star, and he amassed a fortune of $200 million by starring in major Hollywood films that paid him handsomely.
However, as Murphy’s bank account steadily grew with each movie he filmed, his happiness decreased. Murphy recently acknowledged that although he was getting paid millions of dollars for each role, he was no longer receiving any joy from the movies he made and had to take a step back from the business.
Eddie Murphy made a ton of money making movies he didn’t like
Murphy opened up about his experiences as a Hollywood superstar during a recent interview with Drew Barrymore.
“I had it all the way together for years and years and years,” Murphy said. “And then what happened with movies is they started offering you so much money to stuff that I wound up doing … You just still be like, ‘Hey, you want to give me that much money to do that sh*t? Okay.’”
Even though Murphy gladly obliged when he first found out how much studios were willing to pay him for films, he realized the personal cost of making those same films later on.
“I did a bunch of movies like that, and it’s forever,” Murphy said. “Way after the money is spent, that sh*t movie is like still playing on a movie channel.”
He took a hiatus from acting to reconnect with himself
Realizing that his happiness was diminishing with each big pay day, Murphy decided to take a break from acting.
“I got to where I stopped having fun making movies,” Murphy said. “So I had to take a time, like about 2011 I think it was, I’d stopped for like eight years. I just stopped making movies.
During his time away from the big screen, Murphy managed to reconnect with himself and remember what made him happy.
“And that’s where I had really, really quiet time and got re-centered where if I’m going to be doing something, I want to be doing it because I want to do it, and all that,” Murphy said. “And I got it all back together that way.”
The ‘Coming 2 America’ star refuses to make movies solely for money
Murphy’s lack of desire to make films solely for a payout has made him more selective with his roles. This is a big reason why Coming 2 America, the sequel to his 1988 classic Coming to America took so long to get developed.
“That’s why the script took so long,” Murphy told TODAY. “Took four years because the script just wasn’t right. Same thing with Beverly Hills Cop, they’ve been trying to get a Beverly Hills Cop together for 10 years. But the script has to be right.”
At this point in his career, Murphy refuses to make films he doesn’t love.
“I told you guys, I’m not doing any more money grabs, I’m not doing any more movies that’s like, ‘Oh, he clearly just did this movie for a check.’ I’m not doing any of those. Only when it’s right. And this thing took four years to get right.”
Coming 2 America can be streamed now on Amazon Prime Video.
