"This ain't good at all," Eddie Murphy says on a biopic of his life

Record ID: 1434861

  • Title: "This ain't good at all," Eddie Murphy says on a biopic of his life
  • Date: 2nd October 2019
  • Summary: BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 28, 2019) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR DA'VINE JOY RANDOLPH SAYING: (ON HER AUDITION PROCESS) "First of all my heroes and women who I admire were auditioning so I was already was like, in the beginning I was like, 'Yo, I'm good.'" (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR TITUSS BURGESS SAYING: "Who?" (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR DA'VINE JOY RANDOLPH SAYING: "I can't tell you who. But they were coming in and I'm little ol' me and I'm sitting here like, 'what?'. You know what I mean?"
  • Embargoed: 16th October 2019 22:46
  • Keywords: Keegan-Michael Key movie Craig Robinson film comedy Dolemite premiere Mike Epps Netflix bio-pic Da’Vine Joy Randolph actor Wesley Snipes Tituss Burgess Eddie Murphy
  • Location: BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES / UNKNOWN FILM LOCATIONS
  • City: BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES / UNKNOWN FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Film
  • Reuters ID: LVA00AAZEKC3X
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDIT CONTAINS PROFANITY
    Eddie Murphy has stepped into the shoes of late comedian Rudy Ray Moore for his new biopic, "Dolemite Is My Name."
    The film tells the story of Moore who did everything he could to become a stand-up comedian and ultimately one of the first guerrilla filmmakers with his film 1970s Blaxploitation film, "Dolemite."
    Murphy first approached Moore in 2004 about making a film about his life, which he and the cast called inspirational.
    "He believes in himself, that's what his biggest thing is that he believes in himself. And as crude as his stuff and as crude as his movies were made - and he made them out of his pocket and he had to do everything himself and come in from the back door. But he truly, truly believed in it," Murphy said.
    Co-star Keegan-Michael Key described the film as delightful and heartwarming.
    "I mean it's outrageously funny in the best possible way. But it's a story about perseverance, it's a story about I won't take no for an answer and that's inspiring. I want that feeling of inspiration."
    The all-star cast also includes Wesley Snipes, Mike Epps, and Tituss Burgess and Da'vine Joy Randolph who were both star-struck on the first day of filming.
    "We're just waiting and he just walks in the door - they're like, alright, let's go, let's start. And we're going to walk across the street and… And it was just like, wow, I need to process, can I have a moment, the man is right here?" said Da'vine Joy Randolph.
    "She and I actually shared a moment, do you remember? Right before they yelled action. I was like, can you believe," added Tituss Burgess.
    This film marks the first time Murphy has portrayed someone in a biopic and when it comes to his life story turning into a biopic, he doesn't think his story is gritty enough to be told.
    "Most biopics have, you know, you lose it all, you're a dope fiend, they have all kinds of crazy abusive... And I haven't had any of that. I've had such a charmed life my biopic would be boring. It would be boring. It would be some actor trying to be funny and it would be strange. You'd be like, this ain't good at all," he joked.
    "Dolemite Is My Name" will be released in theaters on October 4 and will begin streaming on Netflix on October 25.
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