Eddie Murphy’s decades-long acting career began on a positive note, despite the harsh criticism he has received over the years. By 1990, Murphy’s movies had made over $1 billion at the box office, making his nearly exclusive contract with Paramount one of the most profitable ones for the studio. Murphy, however, was passionate about looking for better opportunities after more than ten years of working with the studio.
However, before he could say goodbye to Paramount, the father of ten had to pay his contractual dues, which included starring in at least 4 movies for the studio as of 1991. Surprisingly, Murphy starred in Wes Craven’s tepidly-received horror movie, Vampire in Brooklyn, around the same period.
So, is it possible that Murphy purposefully chose to star in one of his lowest-rated films, therefore damaging his own reputation, as an exit strategy?
Although their relationship was on the rocks, Eddie Murphy and Paramount still decided to continue it in 1991. Beginning with the 1992 romantic comedy Boomerang, Murphy would feature in a total of four films for the studio under the conditions of the new contract.
It wasn’t until 1995, when Murphy played the lead in Wes Craven’s black comedy Vampire in Brooklyn, that he paid off his contractual dues.
“I’ve always wanted to do something where I was the villain in the movie,” the Dolemite is My Name actor stated in a 2009 interview with Joe Leydon about acting in the film. He added, “I love horror pictures, and I was a big fan of Wes Craven. This movie started out as something small, this was a movie my company was just going to produce, and the screenplay came together so well that I thought it will be a fun role to play.”
Despite being a stark departure from his usual niche, Murphy found the movie to have some charm. I got to do something kind of scary and had a safety net because the vampire can turn into other peoples,” he said. “I get to be funny when I’m the preacher and I get to be funny when I’m the Italian guy. And the vampire is pretty straight and I got all these funny stuff happening around me. I felt it was a unique piece to do.”
But only two years after his sit-down with Leydon, it became clear that Murphy might have had an even stronger reason to star in the ill-fated film.
In an interview with RollingStone, he said, “The only way I was able to do Nutty Professor and to get out of my Paramount deal, I had to do Vampire in Brooklyn,” He added, “But you know what ruined that movie? The wig. I walked out in that longhaired wig and people said, “Oh, get the fuck out of here! What the hell is this?”