Art imitates life in the long-awaited sequel, as the star’s daughter, Bella Murphy, plays that same role on screen.
When Eddie Murphy’s Prince Akeem hit the big screen in 1988, the beloved character traveled to Queens to find love. But in “Coming 2 America,” the highly anticipated sequel to that similarly named hit, the prince is back in the same borough and hoping to find his long-lost son.
However, if fans of the franchise watch closely, they’ll actually find Murphy’s daughter in the film.
The actor stars alongside his 19-year-old daughter, Bella, in the new comedy, and when he spoke to TODAY’s Al Roker about her role, he couldn’t contain his joy.
“I can’t even put into words, Al,” the legendary comedian said. “You know, if you have children, your child could do like a school play, and your heart will burst with pride. To look over on the set, seeing her, I had a big giant proud papa moment every day.”
Just like real life, Bella plays the part of one of Murphy’s daughters in “Coming 2 America.” But in the film, she’s one of three daughters. Off-screen, she’s one of the 59-year-old’s six daughters — and he has four sons, too.
In addition to Bella, Murphy is also dad to Max, 2 and Izzy, 4, whom he shares with partner Paige Butcher, as well as Eric, 31, Bria, 31, Christian, 30, Miles, 28, Shayne, 26, Zola, 21, and Angel, 13, from previous relationships.
And when Al asked the actor pick one of the dozens of films he’s starred in to represent his legacy, the Emmy and Golden Globe winner simply redirected him to his children.
“It wouldn’t be a film at all — my legacy is not my work,” Murphy insisted. “My legacy is my children. My legacy are these 10 human beings that that I brought into this world.”
While only one part of his legacy appears with him in “Coming 2 America,” fans can look forward to seeing a lot of other familiar faces.
Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, John Amos, Shari Headley and Garcelle Beauvais will all reprise their roles from the first movie, and they’ll be joined by a star-studded cast including Tracy Morgan, Wesley Snipes, Jermaine Fowler and Leslie Jones.
“Coming 2 America” is set to premiere March 5 on Amazon Prime Video.
