Eddie Murphy Is Ready For His Big Comeback
Eddie Murphy is ready to return to stand up comedy and the big screen! He’s currently slated to star in the new forthcoming biopic Dolemite Is My Name where he portrays comic Rudy Ray Moore.
The 58-year-old actor and comedian has been teasing his fans over the years regarding his comeback to stand up comedy and after being inspired by Dolemite, Murphy seems to be serious.
The iconic star recently signed a deal with streaming behemoth Netflix to release a new special in 2020 and he also has a theater tour in store.
“I didn’t want to just pop back up,” he said. “I wanted a funny movie to remind them that they liked me. This movie turned out so strong that I figured this is a great way to come back,” he told the New York Times during an exclusive interview that took place during the Toronto International Film Festival where Dolemite received rave reviews.
For the first time since 1984, Murphy will make a significant appearance on Saturday Night Live as the show’s host in December. He was previously a cast member for four years prior to hosting in 1984.
Murphy is also currently working on the sequel to his 1988 cult classic Coming to America. “I’m kind of looking at this period as a bookend,” Murphy said. “I hadn’t been back to SNL Let’s fix that. Let’s do stand-up again. That way, when I finally just sit on the couch, then it’s good.”
One might wonder why Murphy left standup comedy in the first place. Eddie Murphy said that it wasn’t fun anymore and he began receiving massive harsh criticism for talking about his fear of contracting AIDS from kissing gay men and using homophobic slurs in his comedy specials.
Murphy regrets giving it up in the first place and said that he’ll never abandon the medium again. But you’ll never catch him on stage in a leather suit again as he did in his iconic special Raw. “Nah, man, you can’t wear a leather suit at 58,” he said. Dolemite’s theatrical premiere takes place on Oct. 4 and then hits Netflix on Oct. 25.
