Here's clearly serious, considered, thought-out pride about "The Nutty Professor," & Murphy saying something Hollywood culture absolutely doesn't allow you to say: "I don’t gravitate toward things that I think would be challenging." And here's this bit on... surviving the level of fame he's had.
And, sure, I'm an 80s kid Gen Xer with all the unearned disdain that implies for his Nutty Professor/ Klumps/ Dr. Dolittle/ Norbit stuff that I haven't seen, looking at Bowfinger, Dreamgirls, and Dolemite as his only "real" movie in 30 years (with a qualified exception for the Shreks). But...
you know what? He's figured out something that works for him, and he entertains a lot of people, and he's proud of what he's doing, *and* he still pulls off work that other actors would describe as "being drawn to the challenge" when he wants to, and he's been doing it all for more than 40 years.
Of the survivors from his era— Chevy Chase? Dan Ackroyd? Joe Piscopo?— it's only Bill Murray and Steve Martin who can compare in terms of the longevity of a really productive and successful performing career... and Murphy sells a lot more movie tickets than they do.
I remember Eddie Murphy’s self-deprecating explanation of the awfulness of “Party All the Time”: When you reach a certain level of fame, too many people around you start telling you, “You can do anything.”
