Eddie Murphy Reveals Unexpected Acting Advice Marlon Brando Gave Him Early in His Career

07/02/2024 02:38 PM

Murphy also revealed how the late Brando couldn't stand, "that kid with the gun," which turned out to be Clint Eastwood, and why he said "acting is bulls--t."

Eddie Murphy is revealing some advice the late Hollywood icon Marlon Brando gave him during his acting career.

While sitting down with The New York Times, Murphyreflected on his decades-long career in show business, including the time The Godfather actor told him "acting is bulls--t".

"I was having these famous people that I grew up watching on television wanting to have a meal with me," the 63-year-old actor recalled about his journey becoming famous in Hollywood.

"After 48 Hrs [Murphy's first film], Marlon Brando calls my agent and wants to meet me.," Murphy said. "Now I look back and go, 'Wow, that's crazy: The greatest actor of all time wants to have dinner with you!' But back then I just thought, 'Well, that's the way it is: You make a movie, and Marlon Brando calls.'"

The Trading Places actor in fact met the late, great Brando twice for dinner -- once at the L'Ermitage hotel in Los Angeles and another time at Brando's home.

"He came and picked me up at the hotel. But there was a time mix-up, and I came down like a half hour late -- he was waiting for me in the car," Murphy recalled. "We went to his house on Mulholland; I was just going on and on about The Godfather, and he was like, 'Eh, The Godfather.' Not just The Godfather -- acting. He was like, 'Acting is bulls--t, and everybody can act.'"

Murphy then spilled some tea on who Brando despised in Hollywood at the time.

"This is how long ago it was: He was going, 'I can't stand that kid with the gun,'" Murphy added. "I was like, 'What kid with the gun?' He said, 'He's on the poster!' I was like, 'Clint Eastwood?' 'Yeah, that guy!' He was calling Clint Eastwood 'that kid.'"

Brando was not the only memory Murphy shared during the interview. He also shared stories about when he was just 19 years old and already spending time with some of the comedy greats at the time, who are no longer with us.

"I don't drink. I smoked a joint for the first time when I was 30 years old -- the extent of drugs is some weed," Murphy told the publication. "I remember I was 19, I went to the Blues Bar. It was me, [John] Belushi and Robin Williams. They start doing coke, and I was like, 'No, I'm cool.' I wasn't taking some moral stance. I just wasn't interested in it. To not have the desire or the curiosity, I'd say that's providence. God was looking over me in that moment."

Murphy began to earn his stripes in comedy when he joined comedy sketch show Saturday Night Liveas a cast member in 1980 -- and has even been credited for revitalizing the show and saving it from cancelation at the time. His years on SNL ultimately led him to scoring leads in Coming to America, Beverly Hills Cop and Trading Places, cementing him as a huge box office star.

To read Murphy's interview in its entirety, head over to The New York Times.