When Eddie Murphy landed the lead role in the 1984 Beverly Hills Cop movie, he was excited and felt really good vibrations that it would be successful. When the screening event came, he was petrified to see the viewers not even bothering to laugh.
This led to the actor believing the franchise that propelled him to stardom would disappoint fans. It ended up becoming a huge success, and after thirty years since the last installment came out, Murphy is back at his game.
Eddie Murphy Thought People Hated His First Beverly Hills Cop Movie
Eddie Murphy recalled an incident at the premiere of Beverly Hills Cop in 1984 when he thought the movie was going to fail. He shared via Variety:
It didn’t go well. A lot of times at industry screenings they don’t laugh. I thought the movie was going to be horrible. I was with John Landis, and he was like, ‘No, it was great.’ I thought they hated it.
Murphy was too scared to know that he was going to dismay a lot of people, but when he went to watch it with the real audience, he saw how genuine their reactions were. People were very amused, and that assured the actor. “But the very first time it was scary,” he remarked.
In an interview with Today, he reminisced how the franchise changed his career. “Beverly Hills Cop’ was my first movie that I’m the lead in,” he said, before recalling, “If I travel overseas, they call me Axel Foley. To this [day], they’ll call me Axel Foley.”
Just when he thought his character was not funny enough due to the earlier reactions, he turned out to be a very relatable figure.
Axel is the everyman. He’s not a superhero or super cop. He’s the everyman that rises to the occasion. I think that’s why people like him. And, more than anything, he’s funny.
It only seemed fair that Murphy felt anxious when he attended the screening night because it was the movie that would make or break his career. In the end, not only did he become synonymous with the character but he also proved that he’s one of the best comedians in Hollywood.
Eddie Murphy Had A “Good Vibe” With 1984’s Beverly Hills Cop
During an old interview with David Letterman, Murphy responded to the host’s question if he ever worried that his buddy cop movie wouldn’t be as good as his two previous successful films. The actor explained:
I had a very good vibe. I vibe off things real good, and I had a very good vibe going into Beverly Hills Cop so I didn’t worry about it.
As he claimed to have some sort of psychic vibrations towards things, Murphy must have been very confident when he decided to return to the franchise three decades after the 1994 movie came out.
It remains to be seen if his intuitions are right and the sequel will perform well, so mark your calendars on July 3 for the premiere of Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F on Netflix.
