Eddie Murphy”s newest movie, Mr. Church, took him back to his high school days.
The comedy legend tries out drama in the film, playing Henry Joseph Church, a cook who has a unique friendship with a young girl named Charlie (Britt Robertson) and her sick mother. The film is based on the real-life adolescence of the screenwriter, Susan McMartin, and takes place primarily in the 1970s.
One scene has Mr. Church seeing Charlie off to her prom for the class of 1977. Murphy”s own senior prom was in 1979, but it looked quite different from the California WASPy private school dance in Mr. Church. When I interviewed Murphy about the film, he recalled the song that got played over and over at his prom in Roosevelt, New York: “Ain”t No Stoppin” Us Now.” The song by R&B duo McFadden & Whitehead rapidly became a hit after its release in April 1979.
Murphy even gave us a little rendition of the disco song.
Check out Murphy belting out “Ain”t No Stoppin” Us Now” in the video below, plus his reaction to Jay-Z and Beyoncé dressing up as Coming to America characters and his thoughts on how Mr. Church stays, as Britt Robertson”s character describes him, “cool, calm, and always there.”
Mr. Church opens in theaters today.