Out today on Netflix is Eddie Murphy's long-awaited return to the R-rated film genre (one he hasn't dabbled in since 1999's Life), Dolemite is my Name, which precedes his 2020 comedy tour. The Rudy Ray Moore biopic features everyone from Wesley Snipes to Keegan-Michael Key, and tracks the infamous comedian creating his alter-ego Dolemite, then taking that to Hollywood. What many weren't aware of was the journey it took getting Dolemite made.
"I learned on this thing," Eddie Murphy says in an exclusive clip featuring the cast of the film behind the scenes, "[is] that if it's a good idea, eventually it will have its day. When Rudy was alive we talked about doing this movie and it was something that for years and years was just in the background just, you know, waiting for this moment."
"There was no Netflix when we started trying to make this movie," Murphy continues. "It was like we needed Netflix to come and we needed all these actors to become who they are and it all came together because the idea was a good idea way back then."
Murphy goes on to say that the lesson is in Moore's life as a creator. "That's what Rudy was doing in his movies. If you believe in it and...you stay with it, it will you manifest and it doesn't have to be Citizen Kane, right, it could be Dolemite."
Dolemite is my Name is streaming on Netflix.
