Eddie Murphy Took A Break From Acting After Receiving ‘Worst Actor’ Awards For Films Like ‘Norbit’

Eddie Murphy Took A Break From Acting After Receiving ‘Worst Actor’ Awards For Films Like ‘Norbit’

Eddie Murphy might be a comedic icon, but it was a handful of “Worst Actor” awards that made him take a six-year break from acting.

Eddie Murphy was honored with multiple Razzie awards, which recognizes the worst films and performances annually, after projects like Norbit, Meet Dave, and The Adventures of Pluto Nash. 

He said on the WTF podcast:

“I was making sh*tty movies. I was like, ‘This ain’t fun. They’re giving me Razzies…[They] gave me the ‘Worst Actor Ever’ Razzie. [So I thought], ‘Maybe it’s time to take a break.’”

In 2010, he was even given the Worst Actor of the Decade award. 2016’s Mr. Church was the sole project he appeared in from 2013 to 2018 and didn’t return to acting until Dolemite Is My Name in 2019. Most recently, he starred in Coming 2 America. 

He explained his hiatus and said,

“I was only gonna take a break for a year, then all of a sudden six years go by, and I’m sitting on the couch, and I could sit on the couch and not get off it, but I don’t want to the last bunch of s*** they see me do [to be] bull…The plan was to go do ‘Dolemite,’ ‘Saturday Night Live,’ ‘Coming 2 America,’ and then do stand-up and see how I felt afterward. At least then they’ll know I’m [still] funny.”

His comeback certainly paid off with the Razzies. In 2019, he was given the Razzie Redeemer award thanks to his role in Dolemite Is My Name. 

Most recently, he said he plans to go back to standup once the COVID-19 pandemic has passed.

He said while on Sirius XM’s Comedy Gold Minds with Kevin Hart,

“My plan was to do Dolemite, Saturday Night Live, Coming 2 America and then do stand-up. And then the pandemic hit, and it shut the whole sh*t down. Then I was going – the whole time last year I would have been out working on my act trying to get my sh*t right, and then the whole thing shut down.”

“Hey, when the pandemic is over and it’s safe for everybody to go out and do it, then the plan is to do it.”

What do you think about Eddie Murphy’s reason for taking a break from acting? Comment and let us know.