The promise Eddie Murphy made in 1985 that explains everything: “A lot of us have a lot of hatred”
The most popular definition of insanity is doing the same thing in perpetuity and hoping for different results, which goes a long way to explaining why Eddie Murphy is in the position he is now.
Obviously, he’s got enough money to last at least a dozen lifetimes, he hasn’t shown much interest in making a concerted effort to restore himself to former glories, and if he’s being offered millions to churn out a string of forgettable streaming-only comedies, then why wouldn’t he take the money?
Back in the mid-1980s, though, there was no telling how high he could fly. Murphy broke barriers, kicked down doors, blazed a new trail, and became the single biggest and most bankable star in Hollywood by the time he was in his mid-20s, but when he switched to autopilot, he never really switched it off.
The odd spark of the old genius could be found here and there, but it became increasingly sporadic, and by the time he entered his self-imposed exile in the 2010s, he was a punchline, more synonymous with risible Razzie-winning comedies than the succession of smash hits that made him a star in the first place.
One recurring trend that he didn’t explore was getting serious to any significant extent. It’s breathed new life into several stagnating big-screen comedians, and if Adam Sandler can do it, then surely Murphy would have made it look effortless. And yet, back in 1985, he made his stance on the matter perfectly clear.
“If a comedian stars in a serious movie, it doesn’t make money,” he offered. “It might get critical acclaim, but it won’t be a hit. Not too many people want to see a comedian be serious. Comedians are good actors. They’re very sensitive people. A lot of us have a lot of hatred and pain in us; all the things that make a good actor.”
He made some good points and some questionable ones, since many comedy actors have struck box office gold by playing it straight, but it was his conclusion that became the most telling. “I could be a good serious actor,” he suggested. “But I don’t think I’ll ever make a serious movie.”
Ironically, when he broke his own rule two decades later for Bill Condon’s Dreamgirls, he notched his one and only Academy Award nomination, disproving his own point because the musical drama was also a hit. When he did it for the second and so far last time in 2016’s Mr Church, he proved his earlier point when it flopped at the box office, although it did not receive any critical acclaim whatsoever.
Murphy earned the nickname ‘Money’ for many good reasons, and that was the deciding factor in why he never wanted to make a name for himself outside of his wheelhouse as a serious actor. Looking at the many piles of cinematic shite he’s stacked up since then, maybe he should have, especially when the conspiracy theorists are adamant the Oscar would have been his if it wasn’t for Norbit.
