Despite what you may have heard, Eddie Murphy is not an angry man. At least not anymore.
The star of the upcoming "Tower Heist" and the host of next year's Oscars, Murphy's career is back on the upswing after a decae spent mostly doing voice work for animations. He was once edgiest comedy star on screen, owning the entertainment world in the mid-to-late 80s. That massive success all came thanks to his brilliant turn on "Saturday Night Live," which he left mid-season in 1984. A decade later, he had a falling out with the show when David Spade called him "a fading star" and mocked his "Vampire In Brooklyn" on live TV, but as he tells Rolling Stone in their new cover story, he's moved past the drama.
"They said some sh*tty things. There was that David Spade sketch, I made a stink about it, it became part of the folklore," Murphy says. "What really irritated me about it at the time was that it was a career shot.. I felt sh*tty about it for years, but now, I don't have none of that."
That great mid-80s period saw him star in films such as "Coming To America," "Beverly Hills Cop" and "The Golden Child," but it took until 2005's "Dream Girls" for him to get an Oscar nomination. When he lost to Alan Arkin, rumors swirled that he had stormed out of the event. Not so, Murphy insists -- he enjoyed Arkin's performance in "Little Miss Sunshine," and understood that the award was also recognition for the actor's great career.
"What happened was after I lost, I'm just chilling, and I was sitting next to Beyoncé's pops, and he leans over and grabs me and is like, 'There will be other times,'" Murphy remembers. "And then you feel Spielberg on your shoulder going, 'It's all right, man.' Then Clint Eastwood walks by: 'Hey, guy...' So I was like, 'It's not going to be this night!' [Mimes getting up] I didn't have sour grapes at all. That's another reason I wanted to host the show - to show them that I'm down with it."
For more from Murphy, including talk about his standup career and personal life, click over to Rolling Stone. And, check out Murphy on "The Late Show" on Tuesday night below.
Sign up for Peacock
to stream NBCU shows.