Eddie Murphy is about as candid as Hollywood stars come, with the actor name dropping the “worst movies” he’s featured in.
The US blockbuster legend, 64, sat down for an interview for Complex’s “360 With Speedy” series when he was asked to rank his top four best films.
With a stacked resume of beloved movies, Murphy flipped the question, saying it would be “easier to name my four worst movies”.
Without further ado, Murphy said 2002’s “The Adventures of Pluto Nash” was one of his biggest bombs.
Indeed, the comedy sci-fi was not just one of Murphy’s top failures, but one of the worst flops in cinema history, grossing $7 million worldwide against a production budget of approximately $100 million.
Next, Murphy named 1998 “Holy Man,” which also starred Jeff Goldblum and Kelly Preston.
It made $12 million against a budget of $60 million, and received largely negative reviews from critics.
Interviewer Speedy Morman then prompted Murphy about his 2007 film “Norbit,” which despite being a box office success, was pummelled by critics and audiences alike.
The film saw Murphy play multiple characters, including the titular role Norbit and his tyrannical wife Rasputia.
“I love ‘Norbit,’” Murphy argued.
“You know, ‘Norbit’ came out right after I got an Oscar nomination [for ‘Dreamgirls’]. So there was articles like, ‘How could he get an Oscar when he did this?’ They’re two different movies.
“I wrote it with my brother Charlie. We think ‘Norbit’ is funny.
“They gave me a Razzie for worst actor, worst actress and worst actor of the decade for that … Come on, that s–t ain’t that bad.
“To this day I like it. Stuff in ‘Norbit’ makes me laugh.”
As for his top four, Murphy named “Coming to America,” “The Nutty Professor,” “Shrek,” and “Dreamgirls.” “48 Hrs” also got a special mention.
The star dropped several other pop culture revelations in the interview, including that he denied the lead role in 1998 hit “Rush Hour” – which later went to Chris Tucker – to instead feature in the aforementioned “Holy Man.”
“They came to me with two scripts; ‘Rush Hour,‘ it’s an action comedy with Jackie Chan, all this action. And this other one [‘Holy Man’] is you in a robe in Miami.
“And I was like, ‘no-brainer’. And we went to Miami and made a horrendous film. But it was easy,” he laughed.
“Sorry, I gotta stop saying [it was] horrendous.”
Elsewhere, Murphy revealed he’s only ever had to audition once for a role his entire career. That was for “Saturday Night Live!,” which proved to be his industry break in 1980 aged just 19.
“Never [auditioned for a movie],” Murphy said.
“I’m the only actor … No actor can make such a bold statement. That they only had one audition their whole life.
“It makes other actors sick though.”
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