Before ‘Rush Hour’ Earned Over $240M Worldwide, Eddie Murphy Passed On It — Today, He Explains Why It Didn’t Make It On His Resume

Eddie Murphy built an empire on the big screen without ever auditioning, but even he said no to this now-iconic role.

The comedian and actor from Brooklyn, NY, set a goal to become famous at 18 years old when he was 15. His humorous personality, which has made him millions today, was instilled in him as a child. He says he was always funny, despite experiencing the death of his father, who divorced his mother when he was a toddler and was killed five years later in a crime of passion. His mother then became ill, leading him to spend time in foster care for a year alongside his brother, Charles, Parade reports. Murphy credits his humor to being raised around people who were also funny. He first put his skills to the test at 8 years old while riding a bus.

“Every time the bus stopped, whoever got off the bus, I would start talking, like, doing what that person was saying and where they’re going, and like a voice for that person,” he told the outlet. “I was doing it loud enough and the whole bus was laughing, and it went on for like a half hour. Then when I got off the bus, the whole bus clapped.”

Like many, Murphy’s big break was not immediate. At 15 years old, he was already a massive Richard Pryor fan, and he began doing standup comedy at Long Island, NY, comedy clubs and bars. He also worked several hourly jobs, such as at McDonald’s, Chandler’s Shoes on Long Island, and Radio Marketing, where he was doing telemarketing tasks.

“They would sell leftover airtime to radio. The local merchants… I did that for a couple of months,” he said on the “360 with Speedy” podcast.

When Murphy was 19, he secured a spot on “Saturday Night Live.” As AFROTECH™ previously told you, he reportedly made $4,500 per episode when he joined the cast in 1980. Murphy would go on to take his television talents to the big screen and has found great commercial success in the box office through roles he reportedly has never had to audition for.

“It’s very hard when you grow up in the projects to turn down the money they’ve been offering you,” Murphy told The Washington Post.

Catalog And Turning Down ‘Rush Hour’

His catalog includes his film debut “48 Hrs,” as well as “Coming to America,” “Boomerang,” “The Nutty Professor,” “Dr. Dolittle,” “Dreamgirls,” and the “Shrek” franchise, among others. These films have not only remained classics today, but Murphy could have added another staple to his catalog with “Rush Hour,” which earned $244 million worldwide in 1998 on a $33-million-to-$35-million budget with the help of Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. Murphy would take on “Holy Man” instead.

“Did I say ‘Holy Man’ is one of the worst movies… They came to me and it was like… two scripts,” Murphy said on “360 With Speedy.” “It was like it’s ‘Rush Hour’ and it’s going to be action comedy and you’re going to be in with Jackie Chan and it’s action, summertime, running all this physical stuff. And this other one was you’re in a robe in Miami. I was like, easy choice. It’s a no-brainer. And we went to Miami, and it made a horrendous film, but it was easy to go, and it actually wasn’t, I have to stop saying horrendous. The movie was soft. It wasn’t like it wasn’t a great picture.”