When Eddie Murphy was on his way Come to AmericaHe was hoping to hire an all-black cast of actors for the John Landis-directed comedy. Paramount disagreed on this idea, and according to Murphy and his onscreen partner Arsenio Hall, the studio forced them to cast a white actor in the film. With three names to choose from, the couple decided that Louie Anderson would take on the role.
Louie Anderson plays the character Maurice in Come to America, who is one of Prince Akeem and Semmi’s employees at McDowell’s fast food restaurant. Maurice returns in the upcoming sequel Coming 2 America He’s also still working at McDowell’s, and the restaurant is being moved to Zamunda. The character of Maurice was originality that should be played by a black actor. Talking about Jimmy Kimmel Live, Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall broke up the sad story behind Louie Anderson’s casting, suggesting that he shouldn’t be in the movie.
Coming 2 America will be released on Amazon Prime later this month, and Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall held press conferences to promote the film. The couple immediately admit they love actor and comedian Louie Anderson. But he wouldn’t have been Murphy’s first choice for the role of Maurice. Arsenio Hall was the first to be convinced that Paramount had forced her hand to hire the iconic ’80s comedian in the role. Hall says that.
“I love Louie, but I think we had to put Louie in. We had to put a white person in.”
Eddie Murphy supports that claim, saying that Paramount executives insisted that they did not have an all-black cast Come to America. This upset both Murphy and Hall when they tried to direct the legendary comedy in 1987.
“They said, ‘There has to be a white person in the movie.’ I said, “What?” So who was the funniest white guy? We knew Louie was cool, so that’s how Louie got into the movie. “
Arsenio Hall went on to say that Paramount Pictures gave them a list of white actors to choose from, which included three different names. One of them is Louie Anderson.
“It was official. I had a list. They gave me a list of three whites. They said, ‘Who would you rather work with?’ I said ‘Louie’. “
And so Louie Anderson became the only white actress in the film. Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall obviously enjoy working with Anderson, as all three comedians were on the stand-up track at around the same time. Maurice was invited back to several key scenes Coming 2 America, which will be streamed exclusively on Amazon Prime Videos from March 5th, this weekend.
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