Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall said they were forced to put a white actor in the original “Coming to America” - and they were not kidding. (Watch the video below.)
Asked this week by Jimmy Kimmel how the comic Louie Anderson got his part in the 1988 hit, Hall replied, “I love Louie, but I think we were forced to put Louie in it. … We were forced to put a white person. “
Murphy added that the studio, Paramount, made its mandate clear: “The whole cast is black – and that was in the 1980s – so it was like, ‘We have to have a white person! There has to be a white person in the film. ‘ What? So it was, ‘Who’s the funniest white guy there is?’ And Louie, we knew, we were fine with him. So that’s how Louie got into the movie. “
But the two stars had no carte blanche to choose at will, Hall recalled.
“It was official,” said Hall. “I had a list. They gave me a list of three white guys. And they said, ‘Who do you prefer to work with?’ I said Louie. “
Anderson tweeted “wait what?” after Murphy made similar comments last month. Anderson played fast-food worker Maurice in the original and he returns in the sequence, “Coming 2 America”.
Murphy and Hall, of course, are reprising their roles as Prince Akeem and Semmi. “Coming 2 America” starts airing on Friday on Amazon Prime.
Go to 8:20 for co-stars’ comments on Anderson:
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