For the first time, Eddie Murphy is looking back on the extraordinary journey of his career — and looking ahead at what’s still to come.
Being Eddie, now streaming on Netflix, chronicles his meteoric rise from teen comic phenom to Saturday Night Live breakout and stand-up supernova to box-office titan. In this intimate portrait, the Oscar-nominated actor opens up his home and dives deep into his eclectic career of nearly 50 years.
“There is no one else like him. Nobody,” director and two-time Oscar winner Angus Wall said. “He’s been famous longer than just about anyone alive, and he’s never lost who he is. He has survived it all with grace. How did he do that? What guides him? We chase all of these questions with him.”
In the documentary, Murphy discusses entertaining three generations of fans with a filmography that spans comedy, action, drama, animation, musicals, and family fare. Friends, co-stars, directors, and fellow comics like Adam Sandler, Arsenio Hall, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Jamie Foxx, Jerry Seinfeld, Kevin Hart, Pete Davidson, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Tracy Morgan offer insight into Murphy’s singular life and career, and the influence that it has had on breakthrough stand-up films like Raw, ’80s megahits Beverly Hills Cop, Coming to America, and Trading Places through ’90s classics like The Nutty Professor, the Shrek franchise in the 2000s to his Oscar-nominated performance in Dreamgirls.
“There’s a great clip of Eddie on a talk show early on in his career, talking about how he’s always been able to do impersonations and different voices. He talks about how his mom used to ask him ‘Who’s Eddie? What voice is Eddie’s voice?’ This movie answers that question,” Wall said. “Eddie has played a lot of different characters over the last 40 plus years, but he has never played himself on screen before. He opens up his world and his heart and I think people are going to really enjoy spending time with him.”
“The only time the audience usually sees me is if I’m promoting a movie, so they’re not really ever seeing me,” Murphy told Netflix. “They’re seeing my comic persona — doing my shtick. But in the documentary, this is me. This is my house, this is my family, and this is how I did it. For the first time, they’re getting a little peek at me.”
Read our breakdown of the film's revelations for more on the biggest learnings from Being Eddie.
Being Eddie premiered on Netflix Nov. 12.
Get a first glimpse of the film in the trailer at the top of the page.
The documentary features interviews from fellow comedians and industry insiders who know Murphy best, including Adam Sandler, Arsenio Hall, Brian Grazer, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Jamie Foxx, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Jerry Bruckheimer, Jerry Seinfeld, John Landis, Kenan Thompson, Kevin Hart, Michael Che, Pete Davidson, Ruth Carter, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Tracy Morgan.
Being Eddie is produced by John Davis, John Fox, Charisse Hewitt-Webster, Terry Leonard, and Kent Kubena.
Being Eddie is now streaming on Netflix.
An intimate, captivating, and affectionate portrait of a comedy icon, Being Eddie traces Eddie Murphy’s rise from teen phenom to enduring legend, blending rare home life access with unfiltered reflections on fame, faith, and craft — and a playful peek at the off‑camera performer he’s always been.
