Eddie Murphy Reveals Why He Really Left Oscars 2007 Early After Losing Best Supporting Actor
Eddie Murphy is opening up about leaving the Oscars early back in 2007.
The 64-year-old actor and comedian was nominated that year for Best Supporting Actor for his role as James “Thunder” Early in the Dreamgirls movie. However, he lost the award to Alan Arkin, who won for Little Miss Sunshine.
During a recent discussion about his new Netflix documentary Being Eddie, he shared the real reason why he left the ceremony early after losing the award.
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“What happened was I was at the Oscars, I had lost, and then people kept coming over to me and kept [patting] me on the shoulder,” he shared with EW. “Clint Eastwood came and rubbed my shoulder. And I was like, oh, no, no, I’m not gonna be this guy all night. Let’s just leave. I didn’t storm out. I was like, I’m not gonna be the sympathy guy all night.”
He even said he knew Alan was going to win as he had seen Little Miss Sunshine several months before it was released.
“Jeff Katzenberg invited me over to see Little Miss Sunshine six months before it came out in the theaters, and I literally watched the movie and I watched Alan — and I hadn’t been nominated or anything yet — and I watched the movie and I turned to Jeff afterwards and I said, ‘Now that performance right there is one of those performances that will steal somebody’s Oscar,’” Eddie recalled. “I said those exact words. I was like, ‘He could steal somebody’s Oscar,’ then he stole mine.”
“No, I don’t feel like he stole mine,” he then clarified with a laugh.
The comedian has come to understand that a performance isn’t just the thing that will get you the Oscar.
He calls it “more art than science. It’s not like oh, you do this, and you do that, and you win the Oscar. No, it’s all this intangible stuff that comes with winning: campaigning and your past stuff and what do they owe you and s—. All of that stuff comes into play when you get Oscars.”
“When you add all of that stuff into it, he totally deserves his Oscar for his whole career. He’s an amazing actor,” Eddie gushed of Alan.
Last summer, Eddie responded to rumors that his Norbit role is what cost him the Dreamgirls Oscar.
Speaking of Dreamgirls, the musical is heading back to Broadway for the first time since the 1980s!