I was never much of a Richard Pryor fan, but I cannot deny the mark he left on the world of comedy and I was far from disliking him. His double take and his stunned dumbstruck look are legendary. Eddie Murphy once beat Pryor out for the role in Trading Places in 1983, and now he will get to fill Pryor’s shoes again, portraying his idol and role model in a dramatic biopic of the comedian’s life.
A few different sources (EW, Hitfix) have confirmed that Eddie Murphy will play legendary comedian Richard Pryor in a new drama called Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said? for director Bill Condon, who’s reuniting with Murphy following their 2006 hit Dreamgirls.
After Dreamgirls, I am surprised that Murphy didn’t strike out in movies where he could play to his dramatic strengths. Instead he began the downward spiral of family friendly films that have been more miss than hit. I don’t dislike all his films since, but I do prefer movies in which Murphy can say fuck. Comedy works for him, and always has. But he can do more.
And what an honour it must be to be able to play the part of the very man that inspired you to get into your profession to begin with. A rare opportunity indeed.
In Eddie Murphy’s feature presentation stage act Raw, he does an amazing Richard Pryor impersonation, and he has the voice and idiosyncrasies down, but he just doesn’t LOOK like Richard Pryor when he does it. Pryor’s comedy was just as much the contraversial colourful language as it was his facial expressions and reactions, so I hope that Murphy can pull those off to give us a convincing portrayal.
