Before we were introduced to comedy film duos like Ben Stiller & Owen Wilson, Kevin Hart & Dwayne Johnson, and now-estranged Seth Rogen & James Franco, there were the OGs, Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall. The two set the standards for bromance chemistry in their 1988 collaboration debut, Coming to America which was followed by a sequel 32 years later, Coming 2 America. They also did a few other movies together. In 1989, Hall had a minor role in Harlem Nights starring Murphy and stand-up legend Richard Pryor.
The pair was also in A Party for Richard Pryor, a 1991 TV special documenting the tributary party for the veteran comedian. Then in 2013, the two were participants in Whoopi Goldberg's documentary about another comic, Moms Mabley. Hall laid low in the past years while Murphy continued to do big projects. But their real-life friendship — spanning over three decades — has always been strong. So we thought it's time to take a walk down memory lane and talk about the moment the two first met.
How Eddie Murphy And Arsenio Hall First Met
Murphy and Hall were introduced by their mutual friend, Keenen Ivory Wayans, who belongs to a family of entertainers. The meeting was an eventful encounter with Wayans' younger brother Damon getting a role in Murphy's 1984 blockbuster, Beverly Hills Cop. "We’re standing in front of the Improv, Keenen introduces me, I shake Eddie’s hand and we talk for a while, and then coming down the street is Damon Wayans," Hall told New York Times.
The former late-night TV host said he'd never met the younger Wayans before. "Keenen introduces us to Damon and he’s doing that character that Eddie let him do eventually in Beverly Hills Cop, the hotel guy," he recalled. "It was so convincing, I didn’t laugh because I didn’t know whether it was real. But that’s how he got the role in Cop 1."
Damon was cast as the hotel employee who secretly hands Axel Foley (Murphy) some bananas so he could plug them into the tailpipe of Detective Billy Rosewood and Sergeant John Taggart's car.
How Their Collaboration In 'Coming To America' Came About
When it came to the collaboration, it seemed like a no-brainer for Murphy and Hall to work together after that night they first started talking. It was like a fated meeting of two brilliant minds. In 1989 when Murphy appeared on The Arsenio Hall Show, the two couldn't even stop goofing around.
They almost didn't make it to a proper interview as they kept laughing about the fact that they needed to be more professional than they normally are off-camera. It was after a friendship-defining moment in Coming to America.
Murphy had to encourage Hall to play different characters. They famously wore prosthetics done by Rick Baker so they could portray the movie's famous barbers. In an appearance in The Kelly Clarkson Show, Hall revealed that he wasn't on board the idea at first. He remembered: "Paramount and Giant Landers come in and say 'We need you guys to do characters' and 'I said well I don't do characters. Eddie will do characters."
But Murphy eventually convinced him to go with it. "Eddie said 'Yo I was watching you do stand-up the other night at the Comedy Store,'" Hall shared. "He says 'Sometimes when you talk you go into people's voices. You know if you say Tracy Morgan you'd eventually go into Tracy Morgan [imitating Morgan's voice].' So he said just come up with voices, some of those voices."
Hall also said that Murphy "talked me into it, kinda gave me confidence." Then he said that the only issue he really had was that he "didn't wanna do characters next to Eddie Murphy 'cause I knew how good he was at it. But it worked out great."
How Close Are Eddie Murphy And Arsenio Hall In Real Life?
When asked when was the last time they saw each other in March 2021 while promoting Coming 2 America on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Hall said it was in February 2020 right before the pandemic. It was at the art show of Hall's goddaughter and Murphy's daughter, Bria. So they're really close and have definitely stayed in touch like family all these years, even before they made the sequel.
The two even shared anecdotes about their friendship during several interviews for Coming 2 America. One funny story was when they'd walk around wearing their prosthetics for Coming to America and Murphy "hit on an old lady once," said Hall. "Eddie ran into John Amos and then he got an old lady's phone number because she thought he was a real old dude."
When asked if he actually called, Murphy answered: "Not only did I call... no nevermind," and laughed. Hall told Kelly Clarkson that Murphy might have actually slept with the lady though he's not really sure.
