It's been a whopping 30 years since the cult comedy favorite 'Coming To America' was released.
That's right, it's been that long. The highly anticipated sequel will be released in March
of this year and will feature some very familiar faces and also some new faces.
Some of the cast was at the height of their fame during the release of the first film,
but that's not to say that it's been smooth sailing since then.
We're talking prison sentences and storming out of the Oscars kind of drama. We're taking a deep
dive into the lives of the cast that will be bringing us the long-awaited Coming 2 America.
James Earl Jones
His voice brought Mufasa and Darth Vadar to life, so this man needs no introduction whatsoever.
Despite his fame, there may be a few things that
you didn't know about the legendary James Earl Jones.
When James was a young boy, he actually had a stutter. He was so embarrassed by his speech
disorder that he didn't speak a word for eight years. Finally, one of his teachers at the
time recommended that he read poetry out loud to overcome his stutter. It was through his practice
of poetry that he was introduced to acting and quickly fell in love with the art of performance.
James was also an officer in the US army. He served his country proudly
and still managed to become one of the most famous actors of the century.
Not only has he made an impact on the world on-screen, he's made it off-screen too!
Wesley Snipes
When the announcement was made that Wesley Snipes was going to be featuring in the
sequel of Coming To America, there's no doubt that people thought "Hang
on … Where has this guy been?" - And it is indeed, a very valid question.
What most of you might not know is that the Blade action star spent almost three years in prison
for tax evasion. There were a few instances that occurred leading up to Snipes arrest,
along with a 30mile high-speed chase with a state trooper,
that the actor claimed he had no idea was following him.
Wesley seemed to have everything going for him in the '90s and even got his very own
star on the Hollywood walk of fame. But whether it was a few hits of bad luck or poor decision,
the actor fell from fame just as quickly as he rose up into it.
And when he fell, he fell hard. First it started with the rumors of the actor being difficult
to work with on the set of Blade, then none of his films seemed to do well and
were given a B-Grade status, and then his arrest followed.
It was also not the first time Sniped was arrested. While driving a company
car leased by his OWN production company, the actor was pulled over and arrested for
having allegedly stolen the car. He explained that he was forced to lie
spread-eagled and handcuffed on the pavement with both a knee on his neck
and a gun pointed at his head. He was taken into custody and said he was taunted for hours.
"The whole experience was humiliating," Snipes said.
However, after what seemed like an endless run of bad luck,
Snipes said he took a lot of time to reflect on his life while he was in prison.
"The biggest thing I got from it was learning the value of time
and how we often squander it ... I understand that very clearly now,
having been away from my family and loved ones two and a half years."
And now he's going to star in one of the most anticipated sequels in the world of comedy.
Funnily enough, the actor has initially auditioned for the first film and didn't end up getting the
role. Now almost 35 years later, he's finally going to be starring alongside Eddie Murphy.
Eddie Murphy
The comedy king himself. Coming To America is without a doubt one of Eddie's most well known
films, along with The Nutty Professor, Norbit and his voice for Donkey in Shrek. For a while,
it seemed like Murphy was one of the busiest actors in Hollywood … aaaaand then he wasn't.
What happened? Well, the actor claimed to have taken a sabbatical,
wanting to focus on his role as a father to his ten kids.
But a little birdie told us that it may have been something a little more than that.
It seems that over the years, Eddie's ego grew a little too big for others around him to handle.
There were also a few instances where he behaved
in ways that his fellow Hollywood stars weren't too impressed about.
Well, back in 2007 after the release of Dream Girls, the actor received an Oscar nomination
for Best Supporting Actor, for his role in the film. It marked one of his very serious roles,
and Murphy felt like this was a huge step forward in his career. Unfortunately,
he ended up losing to Alan Arkin from 'Little Miss Sunshine'. According to those at the awards,
Murphy was so enraged by his loss, that he stormed out of the ceremony after the announcement.
So, along with the tantrum of his loss at the Oscars, Eddie was also nominated
and won the Razzie for 'Worst Actor Of The Decade' back in 2010. Owch! That must have hurt.
The actor also refused to host the 2012 Oscars, because at the time, one of his good friends,
Brett Ratner, made a number of homophobic comments and remarks prior to the award season,
which resulted in Bret being disinvited from the Oscars. This came off as a bad
move on Eddie's account, because it seemed as though he stood by what his friend was saying.
So whether he took the hiatus from Hollywood because of his
run of a few bad decisions or to focus on being a family man,
we'll leave that for you to decide. All that we know is that the sequel to Coming To America is
rumored to be the actor's big comeback and fans can't wait to see where the story goes.
Shari Headley
Now, before you think that she’s also fallen off the face of the earth, she hasn’t.
Shari has in fact had a consistent working career as an actress,
you’ve just been looking for her in all the wrong places.
Headley has been focusing on her career in the world of TV, rather than film,
and she’s been doing really well for herself. Just because her name hasn’t
been plastered on billboards, doesn’t mean she’s been unsuccessful. Her net worth is
around $2 million so it’s fair to assume that she’s done something right over the years.
It’s no surprise that the actress will be making a come back in the sequel of Eddie Murphy’s film,
because it wouldn’t be the same without her. She’s going to remind Hollywood
exactly who she is and make her comeback a very memorable - and hilarious - one!
Arsenio Hall
Here we have another booming comedian of the 90's who took a step back from fame,
even after he had his very own show and it's for the reason that touched many hearts.
In 1988, comedian Arsenio Hall was catapulted into fame alongside his
friend Eddie Murphy after the release of Coming to America, and a year later,
he signed a contract to host a syndicated late-night talk show, The Arsenio Hall Show.
But after just 6 years of his show, he decided to step away from the spotlight of Hollywood.
"When you have that feeling of 'There's something else for me to do, and this is occupying your life
24/7,' wrong or right, you need to go," Hall told CBS of his sudden departure from the show.
In a very emotional interview with Oprah, the actor explained his reasons for taking a step
back from fame and it was all for his son. With tears in his eyes, Hall opened up about wanting
to be there for his son for everything, and not miss out on any important milestones. He
wanted to be a present father, despite things not having worked out with the mother of his child.
As his son, Arsenio Jr. grew older, he began to slowly take on a few acting jobs,
making sure that he wouldn't spend too much time away from his son.
Finally, it was Arsenio Jr. who convinced his father to take an opportunity on
The Celebrity Apprentice, and with that began his slow return into the spotlight.
"I think I can finally juggle the 'dad thing' and the 'work thing' all at the same time.
Something I know mothers do every day … I'm happy I made a choice to be there for my son,
to watch all the games with my son, and now I just hope people still want me to make them laugh."
There's no doubt that the return of Arsenio's role in Coming 2 America has fans over the moon!
Leslie Jones
She's a Saturday Night Live comedic legend that will have you
bent over in stitches when he performs her skits.
Believe it or not, but Leslie didn't always know she wanted to be an actress. She initially planned
on becoming a lawyer, but changed her mind and switched between a few majors, including
business accounting and computer science and eventually ended up majoring in communications.
She felt quite lost and misplaced after she graduated and wasn't sure what she wanted to
do with her life. She debated a career in basketball, which she was incredibly
talented at. She actually got into Chapman University on a basketball scholarship.
The comedian began to dabble in stand-up after one of her friends had entered her into a comedy
competition on campus, and it doesn't come as a surprise to us that she won. With her first
win under her belt, she left for LA and made an attempt to perform at some clubs. Unfortunately,
Jones wasn't met with a warm welcome and was even boo-ed off stage while opening for Jamie Foxx.
At the age of 47, Leslie joined the Saturday Night Live cast of comedians.
She was in fact one of the oldest actors to ever join the cast of the show. The rest is history,
with Leslie's career soaring through the sky as one of the world's funniest comedians today.
Coming 2 America clearly has a stellar cast, bringing some of the '90s most beloved comedians
back to the big screen. Fans can't wait for this sequel,
because they're quite sure it's going to be nothing short of comedy gold.