Eddie Murphy Explains Why He Ditched His Trademark Laugh After ‘Beverly Hills Cop’

Eddie Murphy accepts the Lifetime Achievement Award onstage during the 25th Annual Critics' Choice Awards in Santa Monica, Calif., on Jan. 12, 2020. Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Critics Choice Association

Actor and comedian Eddie Murphy is switching things up in the fourth installment of the “Beverly Hills Cop” franchise, ditching his signature laugh.

In a recent interview with CBR, the 63-year-old revealed he has forced himself against doing his trademark laugh. He explained that he had made the decision in response to how many people would mimic it.

The original 1984 film “Beverly Hills Cop,” where Mr. Murphy plays the character Axel Foley, was a huge success. But after the release of the film, Mr. Murphy said that comedians, especially, would poke fun at him and always resorted to the laugh when making impressions of him.

“[That was] not Axel’s laugh, that was my laugh,” Mr. Murphy said. “In the ‘80s, I was like, ’I don’t want to be known for a laugh.‘ I noticed some people would do an impression of me, and that’s all they’d do, they'd laugh.

“I was like, ‘You know what? I’m going to stop laughing like that.’ I forced myself to stop laughing like that, which is really an unnatural thing. Now, I don’t laugh like that.”

Despite making the change decades ago, the laugh left a lasting impression and impressions still continue to this day.

“The impressions and just, they were making too much of it. Even still, if you say, ‘Do an impression,’ they‘ll do that laugh and they’ll talk like the Donkey [from “Shrek”]. If you say, ‘Do Eddie Murphy,’ they talk, ‘Hey, how you doing!’”

“That’s not me,” the actor said.

Mr. Murphy is no stranger to laughs, after rising to fame at just 19-years-old as part of the 1980 cast for “Saturday Night Live.” Three years later, his comedy special “Delirious” became one of the most acclaimed stand-up performances, followed by “Raw” in 1987.

He went on to break out in Hollywood, starring in comedy box office hits like “Trading Places (1983)” and “Coming to America (1988).” In 2006, he received an Oscar nomination for his performance in “Dreamgirls.”

Meanwhile, the actor has been promoting his new film “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F,” which started streaming on Netflix on July 3.

It’s been 40 years since the original film hit theaters, and 30 years since the last installment.

Mr. Murphy explained that making a fourth movie took longer than expected as he was waiting for screenwriters to develop a high-quality story that catered to his personality and craft.

“I’m always telling writers, when you write something, give me something that’s solid, a solid story and I‘ll do comedy. I’ll make it funny. The original Beverly Hills Cop script was not written funny, it was a Sylvester Stallone action movie,” he said.

“If you give me anything that any action star has, I’m not going to play it like Stallone, I’m not going to play it like Tom Cruise. I’m going to play it like me so it adds this funny element to it.”

Mr. Murphy returns as his original character in the sequel that reunites him with its original stars Judge Reinhold, Bronson Pinchot, and John Ashton.

“Forty years after his unforgettable first case in Beverly Hills, Detroit cop Axel Foley returns to do what he does best: solve crimes and cause chaos,” reads the official synopsis for the movie.

In a Forbes interview, Mr. Reinhold expressed his excitement for working alongside Mr. Murphy again, citing their comedic on-screen chemistry.

Although, he said making the sequel holds greater meaning, knowing how much the original Beverly Hills Cop film resonated with fans.

“With dramatic stories, people tend to appreciate a moment and talk about the film itself,” Mr. Reinhold said.

“I’ve found with comedies, though, that people like to tell you what they were doing when they watched them. I think that’s really fun and an interesting distinction between the two. It happens all the time and it means a lot to us.”