“I Feel Like An Idiot”. Eddie Murphy Still Regrets Turning Down One of The Biggest Hits of The 80s
Eddie Murphy has many good roles to his credit, but there are some that he regrets turning down. One in particular haunts him, because when it was offered to him, he failed to see the potential of the film, which was ultimately a big success.
Eddie Murphy missed out on roles in two great films in the 1980s, one of which he regrets giving up particularly badly. What were those movies and why didn't he want to play in them?
One of the productions mentioned is the 1984 film Ghostbusters. During a visit to Jimmy Fallon's show in 2019, the actor talked about how he had to choose between this production and Beverly Hills Cop and ultimately settled on the latter title. Considering how much he owes to the role of Axel Foley, it can't be said that he made a bad decision. He himself doesn't think so either, and regrets only that he couldn't appear in both movies, but they couldn't be done due to a scheduling conflict.
It wasn't like I turned it down inasmuch as I wasn't available because I was doing this other movie.
But the role he simply turned down, not understanding the concept of the film, which was to combine animation with on-screen performances by actors, is the one in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Murphy thought the concept didn't make sense and the movie wouldn't work out, so he didn't take up the offer to star in it, which he now regrets, since it turned out that the production was quite successful.
The only movie I ever turned down that became a big hit was that Who Framed Roger Rabbit. I was going to be the Bob Hoskins dude. And I was like, “What? Animation and people? That sounds like bull**** to me”. Now every time I see it, I feel like an idiot.
Sometimes it's hard to see the potential of something new that we don't know yet. Murphy had a chance for the lead role in this production, however, after he turned it down, it went to Bob Hoskins. And the success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit was indeed big. The film had a great run at the box office, making it the production with the biggest opening weekend in Disney history at the time, as well as being among the highest-grossing movies in history.
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