Call it an equal opportunity laugh, but Louie Anderson did not appear in 1988’s “Coming to America” because stars Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall were dying to share the screen with him.
When the two appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” to promote the sequel, “Coming 2 America”, they revealed the real reason.
“I love Louie, but I think we were forced to put him in this,” said Hall, 65, to the host. “We were forced to place a white person.”
Murphy, 59, agreed: “[The studio was] like, ‘There has to be a white person in the film.’ I was like, ‘What?’ So who was the funniest white guy there was? We knew that Louie was cool, so that’s how Louie got into the movie. “
In case there are doubts as to the veracity of this tale, Hall referred to the proof. “It was official,” continued Hall. “I had a list. They gave me a list of three white guys. They said, ‘Who do you prefer to work with?’ I said Louie. “
Whatever the case, Anderson, who won an Emmy for his performance in the FX comedy “Baskets”, must have done something right: he managed to get to the sequel. He updates his role as Maurice, a stupid fast-food worker at McDowell’s with a golden bow.
Leaving Hall’s list aside, Anderson said he did a little thing to shine the foundry wheels. In the late 1980s, while dining at Ivy – a hot spot in Beverly Hills for celebrities – Anderson caught sight of Murphy and his entourage. He told the waiter to put Murphy’s and company account on his credit card. But, as Anderson told the satellite radio team “Sway in the Morning” in 2017, he instructed the waiter: “Don’t tell him until after I leave. I’m not doing this to be a big shot. I’m doing this because I’m from the Midwest and that’s how we would do it [it]. “
The next morning, Anderson received a call from Murphy. He not only thanked the gesture – “No one ever bought me anything,” Murphy told Anderson – but he also said he wants to cast Anderson for “a little film called ‘Coming to America'”.
Marveling at the comic karma, Anderson said: “This is life, isn’t it? It was the best $ 660 I’ve ever spent. “