Eddie Murphy reveals that working on 'sh---y' movies made him so depressed that he stopped acting for 8 years

(Image credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images))

published 12 March 2021

Eddie Murphy returns this month with the Coming to America sequel, but you're not wrong for thinking you haven't seen him around much lately.

Drew Barrymore was also wondering what the story was when she interviewed the legendary actor on her show on Friday. "I'll tell you what happened," Murphy said. "I'll tell you what happened to me. I had it all the way together for years and years and years, and then what happened with movies is they started offering you so much money to do stuff that I wound up doing."

Murphy added that he did a "bunch of movies like that," but with film, "it's forever" and he was bothered by how "that sh---y movie is still playing on the movie channel." He stopped having fun. "I had to take a time," Murphy said — but now, eight years later, "I got it all back together that way." Watch the interview below, and skip to the five-minute mark to hear his comments about his career. Jeva Lange

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.