Eddie Murphy ‘Forced’ Himself to Change Beverly Hills Cop Laugh

“In the ’80s, I was like, ‘I don’t want to be known for a laugh.’”

Somebody made fun of Eddie Murphy’s laugh, so we all got punished. In a new interview, the comedian and actor said that he was “forced” to change his iconic laugh made popular in the original 1984 Beverly Hills Cop movie because annoying people wouldn’t stop mimicking it to his face. “[That was] not Axel’s laugh, that was my laugh,” Murphy admitted in an interview with CBR to promote the new sequel, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, where he reprises his role as Axel. “In the ’80s, I was like, ‘I don’t want to be known for a laugh.’ I noticed some people would do an impression of me, and that’s all they’d do, they’d laugh.” Eventually, he decided to permanently alter this trait of his, depriving us of the laugh we cherish. “I was like, ‘You know what? I’m going to stop laughing like that.’ I forced myself to stop laughing like that, which is really an unnatural thing,” he said. “Now I don’t laugh like that.” It’s interesting that he thinks he’s known for a laugh when most people know him as Donkey from Shrek. Be careful what you wish for.

• [cbr]

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