Eddie Murphy glad kids are not Hollywood brats

Eddie Murphy (centre) with all 10 of his children in a photo from Christmas 2018. PHOTO: BRIA-MURPHY/ INSTAGRAM

Comedian-actor Eddie Murphy, 59, is relieved that none of his 10 children have turned out to be spoilt Hollywood brats.

The star of Coming 2 America, which was released earlier this month in the United States, said in an interview with British newspaper The Mirror last Saturday: "I am so blessed with my kids. I don't have one bad seed. My kids are so great, normal people - and nobody is like the 'Hollywood jerk kid'."

In the 33 years it took to make the sequel to comedy classic Coming To America (1988), Murphy has produced a brood of 10 children aged from two to 31 years old.

He claimed to be on good terms with every one of his five sons and five daughters, who were born from five relationships.

He has two young children with his fiancee, actress-model Paige Butcher, and five from his marriage to model Nicole Murphy.

He also has one child each from past relationships with Paulette McNeely, Tamara Hood and Spice Girl Mel B.

One of his children, 19-year-old Bella Murphy, will make her screen debut in the hotly anticipated sequel, which follows Eddie Murphy's character, Prince Akeem of fictional country Zamunda, as he returns to America to look for his long-lost son.

The proud father actually broke a family rule - his children are not allowed to work in the movie industry until they are 18 - by allowing his daughter, who was 17 at the time the movie was made, to join the cast.

For her role as Prince Akeem's daughter, she had to audition like any other actress.

"You could go see your child in a school play and your heart would burst with pride," Murphy said earlier this month on Australian talk show The Sunday Project.

"So to look over on a movie set and my daughter is there, and she's in my movie and doing an amazing job, you make me start getting goofy and gushy. It's a special thing to have your baby girl in the movie and to be doing a good job."

Murphy summed up his take on life to The Mirror: "Along the way, I realised that if you put your children first, you never make a bad decision. When you hit a crossroads moment or you have got some s***, you think, "Well, what is best for my children?'"

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 16, 2021, with the headline Eddie Murphy glad kids are not Hollywood brats. Subscribe