Eddie Murphy took 6 years off from making movies because he was tired of winning worst actor Razzie awards
- Eddie Murphy spent most of the early 2000s making forgettable movies like "Norbit" and "Meet Dave."
- "I was like, 'This s--- ain't fun,'" Murphy said recently. "'They're giving me Razzies.'"
- Murphy took a six-year break and came back with the acclaimed "Dolemite Is My Name."
When you think of the greatest comedic actors of all time, Eddie Murphy is definitely in the conversation. But he acknowledges having to make a change after a string of bad movies in the early 2000s.
In a recent conversation on Marc Maron's "WTF" podcast, Murphy said he took a long hiatus from acting after receiving a string of Razzie awards, which spotlight the worst movies and acting performances of the year.
"I was making s----- movies," Murphy said. "I was like, 'This s--- ain't fun. They're giving me Razzies.'"
"Motherf---ers gave me the 'worst actor ever' Razzie," he added, saying it made him think, "Maybe it's time to take a break."
Murphy has won Razzies for movies including "Norbit," "The Adventures of Pluto Nash," and "Meet Dave."
Then in 2010, he was bestowed with a Razzie for worst actor of the decade.
For Murphy, enough was enough.
"I was only going to take a break for a year - then all of a sudden, you know, six years go by," Murphy told Maron. "I'm sitting on the couch, and I'm like, hey, you know, I kind of could sit on this couch and not get off it. But I don't want to leave it, the last bunch of s--- they've seen me do is bulls---."
At the time, having not made a movie since 2012's "A Thousand Words" (which has a 0% Rotten Tomatoes score), his plan was to make "Dolemite Is My Name," based on the life of Rudy Ray Moore, who brought the iconic blaxploitation "Dolemite" to life in 1975. Then, he would host "Saturday Night Live" and do a sequel to "Coming to America."
"Then at least they'll know I'm funny," he said.
The plan worked out. Netflix's "Dolemite Is My Name" earned Murphy a Golden Globe nomination and led to his best reviews in years. And a recent survey found that Amazon Prime Video's "Coming 2 America" had the largest opening of any streaming movie of the past year.