Eddie Murphy was only 19 when he first joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in 1980. In a recent interview, he reflected on the challenges he had to deal with at the early stages of his career when he tasted fame.
According to him, he is happy he avoided the path of doing drugs at an early age. “I remember I was 19, I went to the Blues Bar,” Murphy said to The New York Times, referring to the once-iconic Manhattan establishment run by Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi.
“It was me, Belushi, and Robin Williams. They start doing coke, and I was like, ‘No, I’m cool.’ I wasn’t taking some moral stance. I just wasn’t interested in it. To not have the desire or the curiosity, I’d say that’s providence. God was looking over me in that moment.”
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Murphy, who is set to reprise his role in Netflix’s upcoming film Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, has always steered clear of drugs, including cocaine, due to their potential dangers. As a young Black star who revived Saturday Night Live and became a major box office success with films like Beverly Hills Cop, Murphy already had his own share of pressures to deal with and did not want to add drug use to it.
“When you get famous really young, especially a Black artist, it’s like living in a minefield,” Murphy said. “Any moment something could happen that can undo everything. It was like, all of this stuff is going on, and I’m totally oblivious. Now, at this age, I can look back and be like, ‘Wow, I came through a minefield for 35 years.”
The veteran actor credits a higher power for his good fortune but also acknowledges his awareness of his surroundings as a young man.
In his interview with The New York Times, Murphy revealed that Elvis Presley was a role model, inspiring the leather jumpsuits in his ’80s standup specials Raw and Delirious.
He noted however the role of drugs in Presley and Belushi’s deaths. “Those guys are all cautionary tales for me,” Murphy said. “I don’t drink. I smoked a joint for the first time when I was 30 years old — the extent of drugs is some weed.”
