Skip to main content

There’s no doubt that Eddie Murphy has left an indelible mark on the acting world. He’s an award-winning artist who has starred in all kinds of productions and can basically do any character. But if he could, there’s one film he wishes he could add to his filmography. Here’s the flick Murphy regrets turning down.

Eddie Murphy at an event in December 2019
Eddie Murphy at an event in December 2019 | Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Niche Imports

Eddie Murphy got candid in a new interview

On Dec. 21, Murphy appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he faced a range of questions about his career. During the chat, he opened up about a film he regrets passing on.

“The only movie I ever turned down that became a big hit was Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” he told Jimmy Fallon.

“You were gonna be in that?” Fallon asked, stunned.

“Yeah, I was gonna be the Bob Hoskins dude and I was like, ‘What? Animation and people? That sounds like bullsh*t to me,'” Murphy replied. “Now every time I see it, I feel like an idiot.”

In the 1988 flick, Hoskins plays an investigator who tries to prove Roger Rabbit’s innocence after he’s accused of murder. The film received critical acclaim for both its plotline and its ability to seamlessly blend live-action and animation. It was a box office hit, bringing in nearly $330 million worldwide.

Elsewhere in the interview, Murphy opened up about another film that he missed out on.

“Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis wanted you to be one of the original Ghostbusters but you turned it down,” Fallon said.

“Yes, but because I did Beverly Hills Cop,” Murphy replied.

“It wasn’t like I turned it down,” he continued. “I wasn’t available because I was doing this other movie.”

Aykroyd said on Netflix’s new series, The Movies That Made Us, that Murphy would have played Bill Murray’s Peter Venkman.

“I wrote it for Eddie Murphy,” he said (via ComicBook). “It was me, John Belushi, and Eddie Murphy. We were supposed to be the original Ghostbusters.”

When he brought the idea of a ghost movie to Murphy, the Dr. Dolittle actor was less than enthusiastic.

“I was like, ‘This sounds like a crock … to me,'” Murphy told Extra in 2003.

Eddie Murphy is picking up more roles

In recent years, Murphy has not acted nearly as much as he used to. Since 2011, the actor — who consistently appeared in flicks in the ’80s, ’90s, and 2000s — has only done less than a handful of films.

“I was tired,” he told Entertainment Weekly in 2019 of his hiatus.

But in 2019, he had what some might call a career comeback. He starred in the Netflix film Dolemite Is My Name, which has received overwhelmingly positive reviews. Murphy also made his highly anticipated return to Saturday Night Live on Dec. 21, where he performed comedy for the first time in 35 years.

He’s also looking forward to some projects slated to release in 2020. Most notably, Murphy will reprise his role as Prince Akeem Joffer in the Coming to America sequel. Fans have been waiting more than three decades for the follow-up to the 1988 film and from the sound of things, it looks like they won’t be disappointed.

Best in Entertainment