-Welcome back to "Late Night." We're here with Eddie Murphy.
So when did it occur to you, "Hey, we have to go back.
We have to do a sequel to this movie.
Enough time has passed"?
-Maybe about six years ago.
We had no idea we were going to make this movie
when we finished the original one.
It was like, the story ended,
and, like, they lived happily ever after.
And then the movie, over the years, became like --
it's the only one of my movies that became like a cult movie,
where it has like an audience of people that watch it
all the time and, you know,
some people get dressed up on Halloween and [bleep].
There's a place that turns -- a restaurant that turns itself
into a McDowell's restaurant on Halloween
and they have, like, Sexual Chocolate malts on their menu.
-[ Laughs ] -So it's like, that's --
I was like, "Hey, this movie is a -- there's a cult following.
You know, if we could figure out a way to connect those dots,
we could -- there's an audience for this picture."
That was about six years ago.
-Don't get me wrong. You and Arsenio have aged great.
But it's really fun to see the barbershop characters
'cause none of them have aged a day.
-No, they are older. -You made them older.
-If you watch -- Watch the original movie.
You'll see they look much older.
-[ Laughs ] That's good.
-In the original movie, they look like
they're in their, like, early 60s,
and now they look like they're in their early 90s.
[ Laughter ]
-One of the things that must be so time-consuming is
sitting and getting into the makeup like that.
But the freedom of playing those extra characters,
it must be worth the time you sit in the makeup chair.
-It's the most rewarding thing
when you do those and it works and it's funny.
And the best thing, my favorite thing is, lots of times,
people watch those movies and they don't realize it's,
you know, us doing those characters
'cause that's in the marketing when the movie first comes out.
But once it's around, people don't know.
They don't read the credits.
They just see it and, you know, don't even realize it.
That's my favorite, when they don't know that it's me,
and, you know, I tell them, "Oh, I'm that old Jewish guy."
And they go, "What are you talking about?"
"I'm the old Jewish guy," and they go "Ah!"
That's my favorite thing.
-Hey, I mean this sincerely.
This a free idea I want to --
because as you talk about playing multiple characters,
I think the Oscars should start doing something
where they give out an award every year for a movie
that is 25 years old
that the Oscars admits now deserved an Oscar.
And I feel like next year,
"The Nutty Professor" should get the first of these
because I just feel like it represents everything
that movies are supposed to be.
And when I think about those dinner-table scenes,
and being lucky enough, especially now,
when people aren't seeing movies in theaters
with a bunch of people, like, I remember being in a theater,
like, collectively laughing like that.
And so that's my free pitch to the Oscars,
is that you get the Oscar you deserve for that movie.
-Aw, thank you so much, man.
That's one of my favorites, too.
-The amazing thing is just the rhythm and pacing of scenes
where you realize, "Oh, it's just you
in five different chairs."
And the fact that you have to figure that out.
I mean, obviously a great deal of it happens in editing.
But when you actually see the finished product, are you also,
even though you were there at different times,
are you blown away as well?
-Absolutely, yeah.
And like I said, it's rewarding, but it's thankless
because if it's done really, really well,
you can't see all the work that went into it.
So, like, a scene around the table that took, you know,
two weeks to shoot and that whole sequence winds up being,
you know, three, four minutes long,
and the audience isn't thinking about any of that stuff.
So it's rewarding but thankless.
[ Laughter ]
-That's -- I mean, it was worth it.
I want to tell you it was worth it.
I read that originally Tracy Morgan was going to play
your son in this film until you guys realized that,
I guess you only have about
a seven- or eight-year age difference.
And it would maybe be a hard sell.
-The third draft of the script,
we were still writing Tracy as my son.
Then we started going, "How -- Does Tracy --
Would you believe Tracy was me and Leslie's son?"
And it was like, "No, I don't believe that."
[ Laughter ]
We had to, you know, turn him into the uncle.
-I like that in a movie where there is so much
that's unbelievable, that's the one journey
people aren't willing to make.
[ Laughter ]
They'll believe there's a fictional African nation,
but they're like, "I won't go for that."
[ Laughter ]
Wesley Snipes is also really funny in this movie.
-Wesley is amazing in this movie.
I did a movie last year with him, "Dolemite Is My Name,"
and he was a hysterical and just wonderful actor.
We had really great screen chemistry,
so I went right into this movie with him, and so happy.
I originally was going to play General Izzi,
and I was like, "Wesley Snipes would be so much better."
And he really, really --
He is funny and menacing and just a great actor.
-There are -- You know, I don't want to give away too much.
But I mean, it is really fantastic the number of cameos,
the number of iconic people not just from the '90s
but from the last 50 years.
At this point, is it pretty easy for you to pick up the phone
and say to someone like Morgan Freeman,
"I have a very good part for you in this movie.
Would you do me a solid?"
Does that happen pretty simply or is it hard?
-We were like, "Do you think Morgan would do it?"
And we went through the agents and all that stuff.
And when he did it, we jumped around and danced.
It wasn't easy. [ Laughter ]
-I'm glad to know it's still -- there are still people out there
that are hard for Eddie Murphy to get.
-Yeah, we didn't think of it as being easy.
And we thought we were the luckiest people ever
when he said yes.
-Well, I can only imagine what it was like being on set,
considering how enjoyable it was to watch it.
I've got one thing -- I'll cut it out
if you don't want to answer it.
You know my friend Neal Brennan?
He's friends with you. -Yes.
-He told me a story about how Paul Mooney tried to beat you up
outside of The Comedy Store.
-No, not try beat me up.
[ Laughter ]
First of all, Paul Mooney could never beat me,
not even when he was young. [ Laughter ]
In fact, most comics, as far as comics go, I'm pretty scrappy.
I don't know if I've met a comic that, you know, could --
at any rate, but no, there was an argument because I went --
they gave me the light the first time I was at The Comedy Store.
Paul Mooney and them, they gave me the light
because I was going on. I just kept going and going.
I hadn't met Paul Mooney yet, and they gave me the light.
And that was, like, first year "SNL," and I was killing.
And I was like, "They givin' me the light?"
And I was only there for like 10 minutes,
and I said, "Who's supposed to be coming on?"
They said, "Paul Mooney." I said, "Who's Paul Mooney?"
And they said, "Yeah."
I said, "Do you want to see me or Paul Mooney?"
And it was, "Aaaah!"
So I did like another hour or some [bleep].
So when I came off the stage, they were, like, crazy.
And Spoon, Witherspoon, was in by the bathroom
at The Comedy Store, and he said,
"Next time they tell you to get off that stage,
you better get your [bleep] off that stage."
I said, "Man, [bleep] you."
He said, "[Bleep] you and [bleep] your mama, too!"
And we went outside in the parking lot.
Then Mooney came walking up, and he's like,
"Excuse me, homey.
Yes, you have a routine about 'The Amityville Horror'
about a ghost in the house?" and I was like, "Yes."
He said, "Well, I have a routine that's very similar.
Let me hear your routine, homey."
And I was like, "I'm not doing my [bleep] routine
in the parking lot."
And he said, "[Bleep] you."
And I was with John Landis.
He said, "[Bleep] you."
And he said, "And [bleep] you too, white man.
If I had a knife -- if I had a gun, I'd shoot the both of you."
[ Laughter ]
That was the first night I met Paul Mooney.
And then Richard -- then when Richard heard about it,
he took Mooney and Spoon, and we took --
he made them come to the main room at The Comedy Store
the next night, and -- after hours -- and apologize to me.
-Wow.
-Richard made them apologize.
He was like, "You guys are just being mean to that kid
because he's a new, hot [bleep] and y'all was jealous.
And [bleep] that. Y'all apologize."
Richard made them apologize.
Richard was always so nice.
And then Mooney became a great friend, and Spoon as well.
But the very first night I met them, Spoon was like,
"[Bleep] you and your mama!"
[ Laughter ]
-Well, needless to say, I am glad I asked.
[ Laughter ]
Hey, thanks so much, Eddie.
Please come back soon.
-Okay, Seth.
When it's all safe to come back, I'll come check you out, bro.
-We'd really like that.
Thank you so much.
"Coming 2 America" is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.