Eddie Murphy felt "no pressure" making ‘Mr. Church’ because it isn’t "a funny thing."
The 55-year-old actor is best known for his comedy work so he felt there was no "expectation" when he landed the lead role in the upcoming drama – in which he plays mysterious cook Henry Church – because it was such a departure.
Speaking on The Hollywood Reporter’s ‘Awards Chatter’ podcast, he said: "I never did anything like this. It was something I could do where there was no pressure at all because there was no expectation because this isn’t a funny thing. The engine of this thing isn’t my sense of humor or what I do or my performance.
"This dude [Mr. Church] was an introvert, I don’t usually play introverts."
‘The Nutty Professor’ actor wasn’t even looking for a new role when he was sent the script for the film, but when he read it he instantly had a "strong emotional response" to the story.
He said: "I was literally not even thinking about movies at all, other than writing. I wrote a bunch of stuff, but I wasn’t reading anything. I was in the backyard, just enjoying the yard. And this popped up out of nowhere and I had a really strong emotional response to it."
Despite wowing fans with his humour, Eddie has no interest in interacting with them via social media.
He said: "I don’t need to be on social media interacting with the fans, tweeting that I just ate strawberries. Nothing has made me go, ‘Oh, yeah, get me on, too, I want to be on there with y’all! I just had strawberries too!’ ‘I’m going to the store now!’ ‘Look at this picture of this baby!’ I don’t feel any pressure to live up to any whatever — expectation — anyone may have."
Eddie Murphy felt ‘no pressure’ making Mr. Church
