Eddie Murphy was best known for his comedic parts, which molded his career and propelled him to the top of the box office, despite being nominated for an Oscar for his nuanced portrayal in Dreamgirls (2006). Murphy’s early 1990s objectives were unknown, but he had the opportunity to play in a 1992 Spike Lee film starring Denzel Washington, but the late great Sidney Poitier advised him not to accept the job.
Many Americans have wondered why Eddie Murphy never starred in Malcolm X, and here is the main reason
As Murphy told Entertainment Weekly in an interview for the Apple TV+ documentary Number One on the Call: Black Leaders in Hollywood, Poitier told him not to star in Lee’s Malcolm X biography drama that Washington would eventually direct. Murphy was originally cast as Alex Haley by Norman Jewison, director of Poitier’s In the Heat of the Night. Poitier was brutally honest with the comic about declining the job, even if the filmmaker was drawing inspiration from Haley’s The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
Even though Lee and Arnold Perl co-wrote Malcolm X, Haley was not included in the film since he was not initially envisioned as a character in the 1992 movie, which went on to earn its lead character, Washington, an Oscar nomination at the 65th Academy Awards. It is important to note that the director did take influence from Haley’s The Autobiography of Malcolm X. He explained that he thinks it was because he was in unfamiliar territory. Murphy continued, I wasn’t sure if it was an attack or praise when Poitier said he wasn’t Washington or Freeman. Before establishing a prosperous film career with box office smashes like 48 Hours, Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cop, and Coming to America, Murphy had already achieved high levels of recognition on Saturday Night Live.
By no means was he a prestigious actor, but he was a master of comedy, and Poitier could sense the vitality and freshness of his performance. Years later, Murphy displayed his ability to play more tragic characters in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls. He won a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as James (Jimmy) “Thunder” Early. Eddie Murphy was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and while he did not win, the film proved that he was more than just a hilarious person.
The actor who wanted to work with Eddie Murphy but didn’t make it
The 60-year-old Martin Lawrence is excited about the premiere of his latest film, Sneaks, and is thinking about going back to the Bad Boys franchise. He discussed his new animated picture and offered his fantasy projects, which include a fifth Bad Boys movie and potentially another TV program. Both Lawrence and Smith, who are 56 and 56 years old, respectively, have portrayed Miami police officers Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey in each of the four Bad Boys action-comedy films to date: Bad Boys (1995), Bad Boys II (2003), Bad Boys for Life (2020), and Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024).
Although the costars have become a legendary film team, Lawrence earlier stated in a June 2024 episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that he had originally intended to work with Eddie Murphy as his partner on the first Bad Boys movie. Even though he now has Smith as his on-screen sidekick, Lawrence told us he still looks to Murphy, 64, for advice on real life. Eddie Murphy, 64, and Lawrence have starred together in numerous films, including 1992’s Boomerang and 1999’s Life. The personal lives of the two are also linked because in November 2024, Murphy’s son Eric proposed to Lawrence’s daughter Jasmin.
