Eddie Murphy was warned by Sidney Poitier to not appear in Malcolm X.
In an interview with Apple TV+’s “Number One on Call Sheet: Hollywood’s Major Black Men,” Murphy revealed that in the 1992 film, Norman Yudyson approached him as Alex Haley when he became obsessed with the film before Spike Lee took over. Poitier objected to it, and he spoke Murphy from the role.
“They were talking about doing ‘Malcolm X’,” Murphy said. “Norman Yudyson had put it together. They were going to use “Autobiography of Malcolm X” by Alex Haley. And they got closer to me about playing Alex Haley. At the same time, I bumped into something Sydney Poitier. And Sidney Poitier said, “You’re not Denzel [Washington]and you’re not Morgan [Freeman]. You’re breathing fresh air, and so is no f-K! ”
He continued. “what?”
Murphy speculated that the reason Poitier is so stubborn to him to avoid the role of “Malcolm X” is because he was “something new.” He thought the actors didn’t know how to advise up-and-coming methods.
“They had no references for me. They couldn’t give me any advice because I was 20, 21 years old and the audience was mainstream. “My films. [were] All over the world, they had none with young black people. So no one could give me any advice. Everything was really big and broke really quickly. ”
Washington was nominated for the Oscars for the No. 1 nomination for his role in “Malcolm X” after Lee took over.
“Cole Sheet Number One: Hollywood’s Black Reading Men” is a two-part documentary project directed by Reginald Hadlin (behind Oprah Winfrey’s 2022 documentary “Sydney,” about Poitier). The Apple TV+ documentary shows Hollywood history of boundary-breaking black male actors like Poitier and Murphy, and how they charted the paths of the black actors they work today.
Eddie Murphy’s post revealed that Oscar-winning film Sidney Poitier warned him not to star in “You’re not Denzel.”
