Eddie Murphy revealed throughout an interview for the Apple TV+ documentary “Quantity One on the Name Sheet: Black Main Males in Hollywood” (through Leisure Weekly) that Sidney Poitier suggested him to not star in “Malcom X,” which was initially being put collectively by Poitier’s “Within the Warmth of the Evening” director Norman Jewison earlier than Spike Lee took over and solid Denzel Washington within the lead function.

“They had been speaking about doing ‘Malcolm X,’” Murphy stated. “Norman Jewison was placing it collectively. They had been gonna use ”The Autobiography of Malcolm X’ by Alex Haley. And so they approached me about enjoying Alex Haley. Round that very same time, I ran into Sidney Poitier at one thing, and I requested him, ‘Yeah, I’m eager about enjoying Alex Haley!’ And Sidney Poitier stated, ‘You aren’t Denzel [Washington], and you aren’t Morgan [Freeman]. You’re a breath of recent air, and don’t fuck with that!’”

“I didn’t know if it was an insult or a praise,” Murphy added about being in comparison with Washington and Freeman. “I used to be like, ‘What?’”

Speculating on why Poitier didn’t view Murphy in the identical area as different actors, Murphy stated that he was in “uncharted waters.”

“For Sidney and all these guys, after I confirmed up, it was one thing kinda new,” Murphy stated. “They didn’t have a reference for me, they couldn’t give me recommendation, as a result of I used to be 20, 21 years previous, and my viewers was the mainstream — all of in every single place. My motion pictures [were] all world wide, and so they had by no means had that with a younger Black individual. So no one may give me recommendation, actually. All the pieces broke actually massive and actually quick.”

With Spike Lee behind the digital camera and Washington within the lead function, “Malcolm X” earned vital acclaim and field workplace success. Washington was nominated for the very best actor Oscar. Murphy would get his shot at extra dramatic roles years later in movies like “Dreamgirls,” which earned him an Oscar nomination for greatest supporting actor.

“Quantity One on the Name Sheet: Black Main Males in Hollywood” is now accessible to stream on Apple TV+.