Since 2012, Eddie Murphy, one of the most dynamic and tireless actors of the 1980s and 1990s, has only appeared in two movies: A Thousand Words and Mr. Church. He was, as he told Entertainment Weekly, “tired” and needed to take time off (it helps that he made oodles of money from the Shrek movies). But then a funny thing happened: Murphy wanted to be funny again. It was in 2015, when he was presented with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor by none other than then-president Barack Obama.
“When you get that Mark Twain Prize,” Murphy said, “you get to meet the president, and I met Obama and the first thing out of his mouth was, ‘When are you doing stand-up again?’ I was like, ‘Wow.’ Between that and the award, I was ready to get back.” If Barack Obama asked me to stand-up comedy, my response would be, “Mr. President, I’ve never done stand-up before, but… OK. I’ll see you at the Chuckle Hut tonight at 9.”
Not only is Murphy returning to standing in front of brick walls, he’s also hosting SNL in December and starring in his passion project, Netflix’s Dolemite Is My Name, which he’s fantastic in. (He wanted to make it years ago, but “shit like” The Adventures of Pluto Nash got in the way.) From our review: “Dolemite Is My Name is sensational and Murphy is electric in it… Murphy delivers in one of the greatest performances of his career.”
Dolemite Is My Name premieres on Netflix on October 25.
(Via Entertainment Weekly)
