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Eddie Murphy has addressed the negative reception he received for 2007’s Norbit in a new interview
The actor praised the comedy film for which he won three Razzie Awards in 2008
“I love Norbit … Come on now, [it] ain’t that bad,” Murphy said in defense of the movie
Eddie Murphy has no regrets about making the 2007 comedy film Norbit.
The comedian and actor, 64, said he thinks the movie, which was highly-criticized at the time of its release, is “funny … to this day” as he defended the Razzie-nominated film in a new interview.
“I love Norbit,” Murphy told Complex. “Norbit came out right after I got that Oscar nomination [for Dreamgirls]. There were articles like, ‘How can he get an Oscar, he did this?’ They’re two different movies.”
Murphy explained that he wrote the comedy with his brother, late comedian and actor Charlie Murphy “and we think Norbit is funny.”
“Here’s the thing with Norbit, it came out and they gave me Razzie Awards for worst actor of the decade, worst actor and worst actress,” Murphy said laughing. “And I was like, ‘Come on now, s— ain’t that bad. So they were just hating [on me].’”
Murphy earned five nominations in total for his performance in Norbit at the Razzie Awards in 2008. Despite the public criticism he received for the picture at the time, the actor insists that he still has a soft spot for the film.
“I like Norbit to this day,” Murphy told Complex. “There’s stuff in Norbit that makes me laugh.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Murphy listed off his “Mount Rushmore” of his favorite movies of his career, which included Coming to America (1988), The Nutty Professor (1996), Shrek (2001) and the musical Dreamgirls (2006), for which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
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Bruce Mcbroom/Dreamworks/Kobal/Shutterstock
Murphy in the 2007 comedy film ‘Norbit’
The comedian also named among his worst movies Pluto Nash (2002) and Holy Man (1998), which he revealed he took instead of the hit action-comedy Rush Hour, starring Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan.
“They came to me and there were two scripts,” recalled Murphy. “There was Rush Hour, and it’s going to be an action comedy [with] Jackie Chan and … it’s summertime, running, all this physical stuff. And this other one was you in a robe in Miami … I was like, it was a no-brainer.”
Murphy also claimed in the interview that the 1989 film Driving Miss Daisy, starring Morgan Freeman, was “originally developed for me”, but he turned it down.
“I was like, ‘I ain’t driving no Missy Daisy,’ ” Murphy joked.
Read the original article on People
