Becoming a star in Hollywood seemed like a distant dream for Eddie Murphy at the start. He was limited to smaller opportunities at a young age, Murphy would skip school and take part in standup comedy gigs. Like so many others, he was hooked and it would only ignite his passion even further.
Before he would go on to stardom in film, Murphy admitted that he was begging for a break. Looking back, we're glad as he did as his begging and involvement on a certain show saved it from collapsing in the early '80s.
Once Murphy was cast into the ensemble, everything changed for the show and it was given new life.
Success followed after his time on said show, he has a net worth of over $200 million. He became a staple to so many classic films which are still celebrated today.
We'll take a look at the journey to get there, and how hard it was to land his first gig. That gig ultimately saved his career and in truth, he also saved the show as well.
'SNL' Was On The Verge Of Collapsing
In the early '80s, 'Saturday Night Live' was not fairing so well. Without Lorne Michaels front and center, the show was suffering in a major way.
Then, writer David Sheffield discovered Eddie, who was not part of the cast yet.
"He was only a featured player,” Sheffield says. “He was not a member of the regular cast. He didn’t appear in anything to speak of. He was very quiet. Kept to himself.”
He was only 19 at the time, though it was clear Eddie was special. Following his first pitch, he was already placed on The Weekend Update.
"I asked Eddie if he thought he could do anything with it,” he says. “And then he wrote something up and he showed it to David Sheffield and myself. It was really, really good.”
What made Eddie special was his willingness to try things that others simply weren't, without thinking about the risk.
"He had that type of fearlessness. He had not been conditioned in any way to be like, ‘Oh, I better not try that.’”
Murphy enjoyed a tremendous run and he's forever considered the savior of the show. However, in truth, getting cast wasn't easy and neither was his audition to get on the show.
Eddie's First And Only Audition
Believe it or not, according to his interview alongside USA Today, Eddie only ever auditioned for a role once in his entire career. That experience came as an 18-year-old, trying to win over the SNL crew.
According to Mental Floss, Eddie was desperate for any type of job on the show. He was brought in by Neil Levy as an extra and he would also audition.
Murphy recalls the audition being a very tense one.
"The first audition is literally a guy sitting in a room by himself, and he just says, 'Make me laugh,' " Murphy said. "Well, that would be daunting to most people, but because I had been doing stand-up I had 15 to 20 minutes of an act. I was used to going up late at night at the Comic Strip. When you’re a young comic you don’t get good spots, so you’re going up in front of five or six people anyway."
Eddie thought the audition was going to be easy, though he quickly learned that wasn't going to be the case.
"He didn’t laugh at anything. I was just doing it, he was just sitting there watching me, and looking me up and down. After I did all my (expletive), he was like, 'Thank you,' " Murphy said.
Ultimately, there was no denying his obvious talent and creativity. Murphy got on the show with a brilliant audition.
"I read with (Joe) Piscopo – the sketch that I had seen Richard Pryor do when he hosted the show with Chevy Chase," Murphy said. "I had seen that sketch a bunch of times. So it was like, This is my audition? (Laughs.) I didn’t even need the paper! Did it. Crushed it. And got the show."
His career took off from then on and when he left SNL, it would take years for him to return. He finally came back during a special 40th-anniversary episode, one that got fans very excited.
What a journey it was on the show, looking back, the lesson we can all learn is not only did Murphy need SNL, but she show needed him just as much.
Sources: USA Today, Mental Floss, The Ringer, Twitter & YouTube