Eddie Murphy was still a teenager when he started performing stand-up comedy at clubs across the country; he was all of 19 when he was cast on SNL, which led to comedy specials, and blockbuster movies, and Academy Award and Golden Globes nominations, and hit songs about his girl wanting to party not just some of the time but all the time. But none of it — not even voicing Donkey in the Shrek movies, earning him countless millions — would have happened if Murphy had listened to Rodney Dangerfield.
In a new video for W magazine, Murphy recounted the worst career advice he ever received. “I played the Comic Strip in Fort Lauderdale, and I was maybe 17, 18 years old. And Rodney Dangerfield comes in, he bumps everybody,” he said. “It was like, ‘Dangerfield is here. Dangerfield’s going up.’ I was really full of myself back then.” Full of teenage confidence, Murphy, who described his material as being “really dirty [and] edgy racial stuff,” asked the comedy legend to check out his set, and Rappin’ Rodney agreed.
“Afterward, Dangerfield sees me and he’s like, ‘Hey, kid, I don’t know where you’re gonna go with that, you know? The language, and the race stuff,’ and I was crestfallen. Cut to two, three years later, I got on SNL, and had gotten really successful. And I was in Vegas in the bathroom at Caesars Palace. I was at the urinal, and Rodney Dangerfield comes to the urinal right next to me. And I look over, and he looks at me and says, ‘Hey, who knew?'” (Via)
You might even say Dangerfield showed Murphy [loosens tie] no respect.
(Via W magazine)
