Nearly ten years after the moment, Eddie Murphy is opening up about why he left the 2007 Oscars shortly after losing the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Murphy didn’t stay for the rest of the ceremony after missing out on the award for his role as James “Thunder” Early in Dreamgirls, a move that quickly became a talking point at the time.
Speaking in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Murphy made it clear that his early exit wasn’t fueled by anger or disappointment. Instead, he simply didn’t want to spend the night being pitied.
“I was at the Oscars, I had lost, and people kept coming over and patting me on the shoulder,” Murphy said. “Clint Eastwood came and rubbed my shoulder. And I was like, ‘Oh, no, no. I’m not gonna be this guy all night. Let’s just leave.’ I didn’t storm out. I just didn’t want to be the sympathy guy all night.”
That year, the Best Supporting Actor award went to Alan Arkin for his performance in Little Miss Sunshine. According to Murphy, the win didn’t surprise him at all. He revealed that he had seen an early screening of the film months before its release and immediately recognized how powerful Arkin’s performance was.
“Jeff Katzenberg invited me to watch Little Miss Sunshine about six months before it came out,” Murphy recalled. “I watched Alan and said, ‘That performance right there is one of those performances that will steal somebody’s Oscar.’ I said those exact words. Then he stole mine.”
Even though Murphy didn’t take home the award, Dreamgirls still had a successful night, winning two Oscars out of its eight nominations, including Best Sound Mixing and Best Supporting Actress for Jennifer Hudson.
Murphy has been reflecting more on his career lately, especially following the release of his documentary Being Eddie, which revisits several defining moments from his journey in entertainment, including his early talent for impressions and comedy sketches using puppets.
