Eddie Murphy Quit Acting For Six Years

 

Once some actors find their breakthrough role, it can take a couple of years for their careers to catch up. That is the case because they may be committed to small roles in several projects by the time they become a star. On top of that, it can take a while for the powers that be in Hollywood to pick up on the next big thing and give them the kind of roles they deserve.

When it comes to Eddie Murphy, once his incredible Saturday Night Live tenure made him famous, he seemed to be among the busiest people in Hollywood overnight. After all, from 1980 until 1984, Murphy starred in Saturday Night Live, headlined four films, and released Eddie Murphy: Delirious.

 

 Throughout the rest of the ‘80s, ‘90s, and 2000s, Eddie Murphy remained incredibly busy. Then, from the year 2012 until 2019, Murphy only starred in a single film. Of course, the fact that Murphy almost entirely quit acting for six years was pretty shocking to his legion of fans but as it turns out, there was a specific reason for his absence.

 Ever since Marc Maron launched his “WTF” podcast, it has been among the most popular shows in the medium. The main reason for that is that Maron’s willingness to be very open during his interviewers tends to put his guests at ease to the point that they reveal things they usually keep close to the chest. For example, in March 2021 Maron interviewed Eddie Murphy for an episode of his podcast, and during their conversation, Murphy was incredibly honest.

 While talking to Marc Maron, Eddie Murphy talked about the fact that he has made a lot of movies that were ripped apart by critics and viewers alike. For example, 2003’s The Adventures of Pluto Nash was such a massive failure at the box office and with critics that it still lives in infamy. On top of that, Murphy also headlined several other panned movies like A Thousand Words, Norbit, Holy Man, The Haunted Mansion, Meet Dave, and I Spy among others.

 

 From the outside looking in, it always seemed like Eddie Murphy was so rich, famous, and confident that any bad reviews slid off him like water on a duck’s back. However, during the aforementioned “WTF” interview, Murphy revealed that the ridicule some of his movies received began to weigh on him. “I was making these s----y movies. I was like, ‘This s--- ain’t fun. They’re giving me Razzies. Motherf-----s gave me the "worst actor ever" Razzie.' It was like, ‘Maybe it’s time to take a break.’”

 After talking about the reasons for his acting break, Eddie Murphy revealed that it wasn’t meant to last nearly as long as it did. “I was only gonna take a break for a year, then all of a sudden six years go by, and I’m sitting on the couch, and I’m like, I kinda could sit on this couch and not get off it. But I don’t want to leave it the last bunch of s--t they see me do is bull---t, so let me get off the couch and do some stuff and remind them that I’m funny.”

 

After almost giving up acting for six years, Eddie Murphy took Hollywood by storm again with the release of 2019’s Dolemite Is My Name. An incredibly successful movie that was embraced by virtually everyone, a lot of people would argue that Dolemite Is My Name is the single best film that Murphy has ever made. Whether or not you would go that far, there is no debate that film launched a new chapter in Murphy’s career.

After the success of Dolemite Is My Name, Eddie Murphy was primed to take full advantage of the momentum his career was enjoying at that time. For that reason, Murphy announced a planned return to standup comedy for the first time in many years. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic took the wind out of a lot of people’s sails and Murphy is no different as his planned 2020 comedy tour had to be postponed.

 In 2020, it also became clear that the world was about to see Eddie Murphy return to a couple of his most famous roles. For example, Murphy is supposed to play Axel Foley again since Beverly Hills Cop IIII is supposed to be in the works. Of course, in 2021 Murphy starred in Coming 2 America. Unfortunately, the critics were far from kind to the movie but Coming 2 America has been defended by a lot of fans who were overjoyed to see Murphy portray Akeem again.