Eddie Murphy, the legendary comedian, recently revealed why he stopped using his famous laugh. During an interview with CBR, Murphy explained that he was “forced” to retire his laugh because it drew too much attention. His laugh, which became iconic through his performance in the original Beverly Hills Cop film, was natural and not exaggerated for comedic effect.
The Laugh That Became Too Famous
Murphy recalled, “Not Axel’s laugh, it was my laugh. That was my laugh.” He shared that the buzz around his laugh grew immensely, with impressionists honing in on that particular trait. “In the ’80s, I was like, I don’t wanna be known for a laugh,” Murphy said. “I noticed some people would do an impression of me, and if somebody was doing an impression, that’s all they did was they’d laugh.”
The comedian decided to alter his laugh to avoid being pigeonholed. “It was like, you know what? I’m gonna stop laughing [like that],” he explained. “I forced myself to stop laughing [like that], which is really an unnatural thing. You laugh and say, okay, I have to stop laughing like that. And now, I don’t laugh like that anymore.”
Eddie Murphy Discovers A New Chapter in Comedy
Despite his efforts, Murphy observed that the impressions have continued. “If you say do an impression, they’ll do that laugh. They’ll talk like me, and they’ll talk like the Donkey [character from Shrek]. If you say, do Eddie Murphy, they talk, ‘Hey, how you doing!’ [Exaggerated laugh] And it’s like, that’s not me.”
Murphy is set to reprise his role as Axel Foley in the new film Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. The fourth installment in the series features a star-studded cast, including Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Kevin Bacon, with Mark Molloy as the director. Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F releases on July 3 on Netflix, promising fans a fresh dose of Murphy’s humor.
Eddie Murphy’s journey with his iconic laugh highlights the pressures of fame and the lengths some artists go to maintain their personal identity. Despite the changes, Murphy’s comedic legacy remains strong.