Noah Wyle once had a rather funny encounter with Eddie Murphy when he was just nine years old, and it’s clearly a moment he still remembers years later.
The Emmy winner, who is set to return to HBO in January for a new season of The Pitt, shared the story during a recent appearance on Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast. While discussing his longtime love for SNL, Wyle recalled the childhood encounter.
“I watched the first cast in reruns, but my first cast was, you know, the Eddie Murphy [cast],” Wyle, who also serves as an executive producer and occasionally writes and directs episodes of The Pitt, said.
“I met Eddie once, when I was a kid, and I asked him for his autograph,” he told Poehler. “I said, ‘I really like you on SNL.’ And he said, ‘What are you doing up that late?’”
Wyle said he nervously laughed in response before going on to share what happened next.
“I said, ‘Can I have you autograph?’” Wyle, who revealed he was nine years old at the time, recalled. “He goes, ‘Fuck off, man.”
The story appeared to be shared in good humor, with Wyle and Poehler laughing as he recounted the encounter. However, he said the experience influenced how he treats fans who approach him for autographs.
“I always sign autographs,” he said. “Whenever a nine-year-old needs an autograph from me, I sign that so fast.”
Wyle also revealed that years later, one of his children, who was 10 at the time, printed out a picture of Murphy, forged his autograph, and presented it to him as a gift.
