Arsenio Hall.
Welcome to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
(chuckles) Thank you, man. I-I watch you.
So it's kind of-- I'm trying to be cool.
-It's kind of exciting. I'm trying to be cool. -Oh, please.
Oh, please. Oh, please. What are you talking about?
I love what you're doing, Trevor.
You're-you're smart. You're funny.
By the way, the Grammys.
I watched the Grammys twice, bro.
Thank you, man.
First of all, congratulations.
Coming 2 America.
Uh, the biggest movie in America right now.
Amazon says it was so successful
they thought that their servers were breaking.
That is how successful the movie has been.
You came back, the cast came back,
new additions came back, but, I mean,
I know what I was looking forward to
was seeing that magical combo again,
Eddie and Arsenio.
Looking forward to seeing the preacher.
I was looking forward to seeing--
The new character. I loved-- I loved, uh...
I loved that little new character that you had there.
-That was... -The Baba.
Yeah. That was pretty amazing.
I was just like, "Is that Arsenio?"
I was...
(stammers) You...
My man.
Congratulations.
Yeah, it was-- it was a lot of fun.
And-and I love having a movie that I'm in
compared to Kim Kardashian's ass, you know?
I mean, 'cause that's the last time I saw something get broken
online, you know.
That's the last time the Internet got broken.
Yes, yes. And we got close to Kim's ass.
We got close. We didn't break it, but we got close.
My friend, it's-it's been such a success,
and-and you can see why.
I want to talk to you about the journey that you've been on,
you know, yourself and Eddie,
the-the journey of Coming to America.
I mean, this is-- Y-You know,
now it seems like an obvious concept because it's been done.
But Coming 2 America was one of the craziest ideas for a movie,
and the way you guys executed it was double cra--
No one was just playing all of the characters during that time.
When you were thinking of this together,
when you and Eddie were talking about it,
did you... did you think it would work,
or was it one of those, where you're like,
"Let's-let's do this crazy thing and just have fun"?
Well, you know, initially, when Eddie brought me the concept
and was reading a pad-- you don't see that any more.
But he's reading off a yellow legal pad.
And it's just a fish-out-of-water movie
about two guys who come to America.
And Eddie was going through some personal stuff then,
where he said, "You know, I meet women,
and they know I'm Eddie Murphy, and they know I got paper."
We didn't use the term "paper" back then.
"But I sometimes worry that they don't accept me for me.
"...horrible situations where I know
they're not accepting me for who I am."
-Right. Right. -"I wish I could go someplace,
and people not know who I was."
And that was where that movie started.
And everybody loves Eddie's characters,
and wanted him to play characters.
-Right. -"And you guys will be some of the people you meet
when you come to America."
That set it off and took it to another place.
The first time I watched Coming to America,
I remember the credits playing at the end,
and then they started putting up all the people.
And I expected the Eddie thing. I genuinely did.
'Cause I was like, "Oh, yeah, I thought
that was Eddie. I thought that..."
No joke, every time that there were...
a character was you, I was like, "No!
No! How? No!"
-You-you have an a ability... -But at some point did you say,
"He's even that bitch in the red dress"?
-Did you say that? -(laughter)
You-you have the ability to transform completely.
Eddie was supposed
-to do that witch doctor, shaman character, Baba. -Right.
And he found out-- he looked at the models-- and he found out
it was a six-and-a-half-hour makeup job.
And he was like...
He didn't tell me at first. He said, "Bro, you know what?
I think you'd be better for the witch doctor."
And I'm like, "Wait. He just..." He said...
He gave me all that bullshit you just gave.
"Yeah, you-you... There's something about you
"and the prosthetics.
"When you go under, man, you go deep into it, and
you know, I think this one's for you."
And I found out is, he didn't want to do it. (laughs)
I love it, man. You-you...
The two of you have had an interesting connection
your entire lives, and I love how your connection came
from the fact that back when were you doing comedy,
there were so few Black comedians who were on the scene.
And-and why I'm so interested in that is because of what I do.
Arsenio Hall is literally part of the reason
that I sit here today.
I remember watching your show on TV in South Africa,
and all of a sudden, there was just, like, an influx
of Black people on a late night TV show.
And it wasn't just successful.
It was the biggest show at the time.
You were breaking every possible barrier,
giving people opportunities that never had gotten opportunities.
I mean, you know, Mariah Carey's debut
on television-- Arsenio Hall.
Usher Raymond-- Arsenio Hall.
You know, just, I mean, the-the list is-is endless.
I mean, you had everybody on, from Michael Jackson to Prince.
You know, you-you had Magic Johnson on.
After he had revealed his HIV status,
he came on Arsenio Hall.
That time and that legacy is so interesting
to me for two reasons.
One-- because you broke what existed,
but also, because you started a journey
that then it seems like Hollywood just stopped doing
after you stopped doing the show.
You were... you were bringing women on board
as executive producers.
You were bringing Black people on as writers
who never got opportunities.
You made an inclusive staff.
what do you think happened that that just didn't carry on
after you left, in every other show that got made?
Well... Wow.
Like, I don't know if I'm aware of that...
totally, but, um, that's... that's nice to hear.
And-and maybe we got too comfortable.
Because sometimes,
when things aren't right, you fight for things, you battle.
I remember asking for an intern program
when I first got my gig.
I did that. When I tried to raid the writers rooms
of the other shows, there were no Black writers.
-Right. -That's the first thing I noticed.
And I'm so proud. My first intern was John Singleton,
who went on to win an Oscar.
You know, and-and a lot of wonderful writers
and interns came through there.
So I fought a lot because I felt we didn't have what we needed.
I remember watching some of the other shows,
and you could wait a month and not see a Black person.
You know, when I was growing up in Cleveland,
you know, you would spread the word around and say,
"Hey, I hear Al Green gonna be on The Tonight Show next month."
You know? It was a big thing, you know.
So I wanted to, uh, bring more faces,
and like you said, more women.
My whole staff-- the important ones--
were all females, you know.
-Right. -I shouldn't say that.
I'll get in trouble for that.
But... but, uh... but basically,
I saw a need, and I tried to fill those needs.
I think once we get comfortable, we stop pushing.
And also, keep in mind,
-the pie has been spread in a different way now. -Right.
We're in a situation now where, between the Internet,
and I mean, everything from SoundCloud to Instagram,
you don't have to come one or two places anymore,
-to show the world what you do. -Right, right, right.
You-you achieved a lot of these things when you were so young.
You were young, Eddie was young.
Do you sometimes, like, regret the fact
that you were that young when it was happening,
or-or... or did you feel that you guys had level heads,
even though you were that young?
'Cause most people wouldn't survive being that famous
in their early 20s.
Yeah, I had a great time.
And I think everything happens for a reason.
I believe strongly in God's plan.
Uh, if I had that schedule now...
Like, Trevor, just sitting here
looking at your dimples tires me out.
-(laughs) -You know?
So back in the day, I had all the energy
and the enthusiasm and the dream.
And now, I love being the old head
who sits and talks about it,
and looks for my next gig here and there.
Right. What-what is up next for Arsenio Hall?
Because I mean, I feel like you could do anything.
The-the acting bug bit me, man.
You know, I've been out doing standup
and doing a lot of things,
but I hadn't acted in a while.
And, um, that's where I'm headed next.
I want to act more, so, uh, when you do your life story,
let me play your Cousin Squiggy.
-(laughs) -Or whatever his name is.
(laughter)
Oh, man. I feel like you could...
After-after seeing you play the characters you played,
I genuinely believe you could play any...
I'll-I'll cast you as my uncle.
We put a few prosthetics in there,
and-and I think you got the gig.
Arsenio, man, I could talk to you forever.
And, uh, I congratulate you, man.
Thank you for everything you've done.
Not just in the movies,
but behind the scenes in the industry.
Thank you for being a mentor, thank you for being a friend.
You know, thank you for putting everybody on,
'cause that's what you did.
You put everybody on, which you didn't have to do.
I appreciate you. Look after yourself.
And, uh, we'll see you in the next movie, my friend.
God bless you, Trevor. Talk to you soon.
Thank you so much, my dude.