Tower Heist seemed like a turning point in Eddie Murphy’s career. After years of flaccid comedies, like Daddy Day Care and Meet Dave, Murphy was returning to, well, maybe not something as good or swear-filled as the cookout joke from Delirious, but at least it wasn’t Shrek Forever After? Unfortunately, the movie was a laborious dud, and Murphy’s only appeared in one film since: A Thousand Words, which earned him his fifth Razzie nomination for Worst Actor. What’s he been doing since, besides not playing Bill Cosby?
“I haven’t been in the movies the last five years because I was giving the audience a break,” Murphy explained in a candid interview with the Hollywood Reporter. “After a while, the audience needs a break, and you need a break, too. You start taking each other for granted. I’m like, ‘I know what you all like!’ And the audience is like, ‘Oh, yeah, I know what he’s gonna do!’ So you’re taking each other for granted, and the next thing you know you’re starring in [The Adventures of] Pluto Nash.” Confidential to Josh Gad: Are you reading this? You should pay attention.
The Mr. Church star also revealed that he’s considering returning to standup, which, considering he’s only told one onstage joke in the last 30 years, is a big deal. “Honestly, now I really am curious about doing it again because it’s been so long, and so much has changed and I’m such a different person,” Murphy said. “I’m curious as to what it would be like if I got on stage. But, if I do that, whoever comes to see it has to sit through a bunch of my sh*tty songs. You’d have to hear my sh*tty songs between the jokes.”
That still sounds better than Shr5k.
(Via the Hollywood Reporter)
