Hollywood veterans had mixed opinions on Eddie Murphy’s career path.
In the upcoming Apple TV+ docuseries Number One on the Call Sheet, the 63-year-old comedian recalled getting advice from Sidney Poitier about potentially playing Alex Haley in a Malcolm X biopic. The 1992 Spike Lee film eventually starred Denzel Washington in the lead role.
When Murphy told Poitier about the opportunity, he received a response that left him wondering if it was an “insult or a compliment.”
“And I asked him, ‘Yeah, I’m thinking about playing Alex Haley,'” Murphy shared, according to People. “And Sidney Poitier said, ‘You are not Denzel, and you are not Morgan [Freeman]. You are a breath of fresh air. And don’t f— with that.’ And I was like, ‘What?'”
It seems Murphy heeded Poitier’s advice and passed on playing Haley, though he did star in the 2019 biopic Dolemite Is My Name as Rudy Ray Moore. He’s also set to portray funk legend George Clinton in an upcoming Bill Condon-directed biopic.
Murphy also shared wisdom from late stars Marlon Brando and soul icon James Brown, who advised him against cursing.
“He said, ‘You want to be in this business for a long time, you should stop that cursing,'” Murphy recalled about Brown’s advice. “And he said, ‘You think you got a million dollars?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I do.’ And he said, ‘You ain’t got no million dollars.’ He said, ‘If you do got a millions dollars, you take it and bury it in the woods.'”
“And I said, ‘Why bury my money in the woods?'” Murphy continued. “He said, ‘The government will take it from you. So bury it.’ And I said, ‘But can’t the government take your land?’ And he said, ‘But they won’t know where the money is.’ That’s a true story. That’s the kind of advice I used to get.”
Murphy wrapped up by explaining that as a Hollywood newcomer in his early twenties, older stars didn’t really have a roadmap for his unique career path.
“I was in uncharted waters,” he said. “For Sidney and all those guys, when I showed up, it was something kind of new. They didn’t have a reference for me.”
