As Eddie Murphy returns to the role that made him a megastar, he’s revealing some secrets about his rise to superstardom. With “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” debuting on Netflix July 3, the actor is discussing his previous go rounds as Axel Foley. One of the major changes we’ve seen from Murphy’s early work is the disappearance of his unique laugh.
Switching things up was the “Saturday Night Live” vet’s choice, as he felt like everyone was “making too much of it.”
“In the ’80s, I was like, I don’t wanna be known for a laugh,” Murphy told CBR. “I noticed some people would do an impression of me, and if somebody was doing an impression, that’s all they did was they’d laugh.”
The “Dreamgirls” actor doesn’t seem to be a fan of the impressions, as he describes most of them in lackluster terms.
If you say ‘Do an impression,’ they’ll do that laugh,” he said.” They’ll talk like me, and they’ll talk like the Donkey [from “Shrek”]…And it’s like, that’s not me.”
He’s absolutely right, because we’ve been hearing bad Eddie Murphy impressions for 40 years. Most of these comedians aren’t imitating the actor, they’re doing recreations of his characters. These pale copies led the legend to alter his laugh, but switching something like that is not easy to do. He had to take drastic measures to make sure the change stuck.
“I forced myself to stop laughing, which is really an unnatural thing,” he said. “You laugh and say, okay, I have to stop laughing like that. And now, I don’t laugh like that anymore.”
As for his famous character, Axel finds himself back in Beverly Hills when his daughter, played by Taylour Paige, is in danger. To help her, he reunites with Rosewood (Judge Reinhold), Taggart (John Ashton), Jeffrey Friedman (Paul Reiser) and Serge (Bronson Pinchot). They are joined by Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Axel’s new partner, Det. Bobby Abbott and Kevin Bacon as Capt. Cade Grant.
If you’re in the mood for a re-watch before the new film drops, the first three films are available to stream on Paramount+, while the first two movies are on Netflix.
“Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” premieres July 3 on Netflix.