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Eddie Murphy on Possible Holiday Reunion with Martin Lawrence (Exclusive)
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Eddie Murphy is back as Axel Foley in “Beverly Hills Cop 4”!
Murphy hit the L.A. premiere with his buddy Martin Lawrence, some of his 10 kids, and his fiancée Paige by his side.
While it took 30 years to reprise the role that made him a global superstar, Eddie told “Extra’s” Melvin Robert it was worth the wait.
“When we did the last one in ‘94… I thought that was it… Then, when it happens, it’s surreal. It’s like, ‘Wow. ‘Beverly Hills Cop,’ really?… we’re here?’”
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Putting into words why we all love his character, Eddie said, “Axel is, like, everyman. He is relatable. He’s the kind of dude you would hang out with… Axel is, like, a real guy that rises to the occasion. Axel is like Rocky and Indiana Jones.”
Melvin asked if there was any hesitancy returning to the role. Murphy confirmed, “Yeah, for 30 years we had hesitancy. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to play the role… I was hesitant until we found the right thing. And when the script came together, I was all-in.”
And his daughter was all-in, too, with a cameo in the film.
Eddie said working with Bria was “great, great,” adding, “My other daughter was in ‘Coming to America,’ my daughter Bella. It is great to do a scene with your kids, like LeBron [James] playing basketball with his son.”
When it came to dangerous stunt scenes on the “Beverly Hills 4” set, 63-year-old Eddie said he dropped Morgan Freeman’s name.
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He told Robert, “In 10, 15 years I’m going to be the new Morgan Freeman — that’s my future plans.”
So, when he was asked to do physical work on set, Eddie said he responded, “Oh, don’t ask me to do nothing you wouldn’t ask Morgan to do.”
He went on, “It’s true, because I look similar to how I used to look, so directors be thinking I do all kinds of sh*t… They’ll be like, ‘Hey, can you jump off that…?’ I’m like, ‘Nah, I ain’t jumping off sh*t.’”
And like Freeman, he has not aged, but insisted, “Oh, I’ve aged. I’ve aged. I think the only thing I don’t do that most people do… You can count the drinks I’ve had in my life on two hands. I’m not a drinker. Everything else I do the same as everyone else, and I have a very small amount of stress. I’ve always dealt with stressful things, like, really well, [with] the least amount of stress.”
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So, could we see him return to the stage for stand-up?
“I see myself doing a live show that has more than stand-up,” Murphy said. “It would have to be music and retrospective storytelling and some stand-up, a show that did a bunch of stuff. Something like a Broadway show that had everything that I do in a show. I could see that rather than me just coming out and doing stand up.”
But first, Eddie’s back July 3 as America’s favorite bumbling crimefighter in “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” on Netflix.
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