‘Coming to America’ Team Was ‘Forced’ to Cast a White Person

Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall have revealed a familiar face in Coming to America landed a role in the film following a directive from the studio.

While promoting the new Coming 2 America sequel on Jimmy Kimmel Live Monday night, Murphy and Hall said they were “forced” to cast fast food worker Maurice, played by comedian Louie Anderson.

“I love Louie, but I think we were forced to put Louie in it,” Hall told host Jimmy Kimmel. “We were forced to put in a white person.”

The film was based on an original story from Murphy, who was additionally a producer, and played four roles — Prince Akeem, Clarence, Saul and Randy Watson. Hall also played multiple characters, including Prince Akeem’s man servant Semmi.

Related Story: Eddie Murphy Says He Never Planned to Do ‘Coming to America’ Sequel

Murphy elaborated a bit more on what the executives at Paramount Pictures told them in regards to casting.

“Paramount was like, because the whole cast is Black—and this was back in the ‘80s—so it was like ‘there has to be a white person in the movie,'” Murphy recalled.

He added, “So who was the funniest white guy around? We knew Louie was cool, so that’s how Louie got in the movie.”

Hall said the studio handed over a list of three white actors to choose from, but he declined to say who the other options were.

Although the casting choices might have been forced, audiences loved the film. Coming to America was released in 1988 and earned over $288 million at the global box office against a reported $36 million budget. The film has also become a cult classic.

Murphy, Hall and Anderson will all come back to the screen when the sequel is released on Amazon on March 5.

You can watch the full interview with Murphy and Hall here.