Eddie Murphy says there are a few big Hollywood opportunities he’d take if he had the chance to do his career over.
In a recent conversation with The Associated Press, the 64-year-old Coming to America star reflected on major films he turned down and now regrets passing on.
“Yeah, there’s a couple of movies,” he said. “‘Ghostbusters,’ I was supposed to do ‘Ghostbusters.’ Didn’t do that, and ‘Rush Hour.’ Didn’t do that. Oh, and ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit.’ Those are my big three ‘wish I would have done’ movies.”
Asked what made those titles stand out in his memory, Murphy’s answer was simple: “They were huge giant hits.”
The first Ghostbusters film was released in 1984 and earned more than $243 million at the domestic box office before spawning a 1989 sequel. Rush Hour likewise launched a hit franchise with two sequels, while Who Framed Roger Rabbit brought in over $156 million domestically.
Murphy explained that one of those decisions came down to a direct choice between two projects. “Well, with Ghostbusters, I did Beverly Hills Cop instead,” he said. “So, it was like, it was do this or that, so it worked out cool. And Who Framed Roger Rabbit just sounded ridiculous to me, and I passed on it. And afterwards, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s f—ing amazing.’”
Even with those what-if moments, Murphy’s career hardly suffered. He went on to anchor a string of hit comedies, including The Nutty Professor and Dr. Dolittle, and later earned an Academy Award nomination for his performance in the 2006 film Dreamgirls.
Murphy revisits his long run in show business in the new Netflix documentary Being Eddie, which traces his journey from teenage stand-up comic to one of the most recognizable stars in entertainment.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter earlier this month, Murphy explained that the project originally had a narrower focus. “It wasn’t going to be this type of documentary,” he said, noting that it was first conceived as a look at his return to stand-up. “Then COVID hit, and everything shut down. Afterwards, I was like, ‘I’m not sure if I want to do stand-up,’ because I was paranoid about COVID. We worked on this thing for five, six years, and now, coincidentally, it’s my 50th year in show-business — a milestone for anybody in any business.”
One of Murphy’s most beloved roles remains Donkey in the Shrek franchise. The fifth installment is slated for release in 2027, arriving 17 years after the fourth movie. The new film will reunite Murphy with Cameron Diaz and Mike Myers, who return as Donkey, Fiona and Shrek, and will introduce Zendaya as one of the couple’s triplets.
Describing the experience of recording Donkey’s voice, Murphy admitted it’s more demanding than it might look from the outside. “You have a headache after a Shrek session. The donkey has a lot of singing. You’re on 10, and you’re doing it over and over again,” he said. “The great thing, though, is it’s appreciated. Everybody loves the movie. Nothing’s worse than working really hard on something, and doing makeup and sweat and all this s—, and then you put it out, and they’d be like, ‘Two thumbs down.’ You go, ‘I was in the makeup chair for 50 hours!’”
