Eddie Murphy Took A Break From Acting After Winning Too Many Razzies Awards
By Ethan Anderton/March 9, 2021 9:30 am EST
After shooting A Thousand Words in 2011, Eddie Murphy decided to take a break from acting. In a recent appearance on the podcast WTF with Marc Maron, the comedian explained why. Murphy said (via The Playlist):
If you’re unaware, the Razzies are given out annually to the worst movies and performances of the year. They’re essentially the anti-Oscars. And though it might initially sound like Murphy may have been miffed about getting those Razzies, the conversation is a lighthearted one where he’s being amusingly self-deprecating in the way that a lot of comedians are in interviews. Murphy continued:
“The plan was—cause I had stopped making movies in 2011. I was like, Let me take a break from movies. Because I was making these sty movies, and it was like, ‘This s ain’t fun.’ They giving me Razzies; I think these motherfers gave me the Worst Actor Ever Razzie or some s [laughs]. It’s like, ‘Maybe it’s time to take a break? [laughs]”
Murphy may have his timelines mixed up, because Mr. Church played the Tribeca Film Festival in April of 2016, so his break was more along the lines of four years. But even so, that’s a long time to take a break from work. It seems to have done him good though, because he’s only made three movies in the past five years, and they’ve been significantly better than the kind of stuff he was putting out in the years before he stepped back for a bit.
“When you get the Worst Actor Ever Razzie? Maybe I need to pull back [laughs]. I was only going to take a break for a year and then all of a sudden six years go by, and I’m sitting on the couch and [thinking], ‘You know, I could sit on this couch and not get off it, but I don’t wanna leave it, the last bunch of s*** [audiences] seen me do was bulls***.’ So, I was like, ‘Let me get off the couch and do some stuff and remind ’em that I’m funny and if I wanna return to the couch, I could do that.’”
