Eddie Murphy wanted to be funny and relevant during his time on the Oscars stage, but his move went awry when he didn’t follow Robin Williams’ advice.
Eddie Murphy’s career has more than demonstrated the actor’s chameleon-like ability, whose roles have not always been as linked to comedy as it may seem. In 2007, he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for dream girlsa prize he was sure he wouldn’t win.
A predisposition that may seem strange, given that Murphy had just won the Golden Globe and the Screen Actors Guild Award for the film. Why not the Oscars? It was necessary to go back almost two decades to that time to understand his reasons.
As the actor recalled in statements to Weekly entertainment while promoting his documentary for Netflix, Being Eddiethe 1988 Oscar ceremony was the scene of his public denunciation of the lack of diversity at the Oscars.
At that time, only three black artists had won a statuette, Hattie McDaniel, Sidney Poitier and Louis Gossett Jr.and among the group of actors there was some discomfort. Eddie Murphy decided to express this feeling, more to be funny than controversial, but trying to be relevant with his words when presenting the Best Picture award to The last emperor.
Robin Williams advised Eddie Murphy not to enter any garden at the Oscars
In your conversation with Weekly entertainmentEddie Murphy recalled that Robin Williams tried to dissuade him from saying anything inflammatory in his speech:
“I remember being with Robin Williams backstage. I was like, ‘I’m going to say this.’ And he said to me: ‘But why?’ I said, ‘Don’t you think that’s funny?’ It was more of an ‘Is this funny?’ than a ‘It’s controversial’. I was trying to be funny and say something smart, but also be funny. I wanted to give a provocative touch to what I said”.
What he said, among other things, is that black actors only received one award every 20 years, so “It was only their turn in 2004.“. He also stated this, probably, when saying that he was forever stumbling at the awards.
He got one thing wrong: Denzel Washington would win his first Oscar just two years later. He got the other thing right: Eddie Murphy was only nominated for dream girlsand lost to Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine), against all odds.
It must be said that Eddie Murphy He tends to work in genres that don’t have much impact on major awards shows, which also doesn’t help him get nominated for an Oscar.
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