Why Eddie Murphy Ditched His Iconic Laugh After “Beverly Hills Cop”: 'I Forced Myself to Stop'

"I noticed some people would do an impression of me, and that's all they'd do, they'd laugh," the star said of forcing himself to laugh differently

Eddie Murphy is sharing why he dropped his signature laugh.

In a recent interview with CBR while promoting Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, the actor, 63, responded to a question regarding the disappearance of his character Axel Foley's unique laugh in the new sequel.

Murphy, who initially gained fame as a Saturday Night Live cast member in the early '80s before 1984's Beverly Hills Cop, said he stopped laughing like that decades ago in response to how many people would mimic it doing impressions of him.

"[That was] not Axel's laugh, that was my laugh. In the '80s, I was like, 'I don't want to be known for a laugh.' I noticed some people would do an impression of me, and that's all they'd do, they'd laugh," Murphy explained.

"I was like, 'You know what? I'm going to stop laughing like that.' I forced myself to stop laughing like that, which is really an unnatural thing. Now I don't laugh like that."

He continued, "The impressions and just, they were making too much of it. Even still, if you say 'Do an impression,' they'll do that laugh and they'll talk like the Donkey [from Shrek.] If you say, 'Do Eddie Murphy,' they talk, 'Hey, how you doing!' That's not me."

Related: Eddie Murphy Says Marlon Brando Told Him He Didn't Like Clint Eastwood: 'Can't Stand That Kid with the Gun'

Murphy returns as detective Axel Foley in Axel F, a sequel that reunites him with original stars Judge Reinhold, Bronson Pinchot and John Ashton for another adventure in California. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Taylour Paige, Paul Reiser and Kevin Bacon also star in the movie, which comes almost exactly 40 years after the original hit theaters, and 30 years since the last installment.

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While speaking with CBR, Murphy said it took so long to make a fourth Beverly Hills Cop movie because he was waiting for screenwriters to develop a high-quality story for him to work with.

Related: Beverly Hills Cop’s Bronson Pinchot Says Film Brought Overnight Fame and Death Threats: ‘I Wasn’t Ready’ (Exclusive)

"I'm always telling writers, when you write something, give me something that's solid, a solid story and I'll do comedy. I'll make it funny. The original Beverly Hills Cop script was not written funny, it was a Sylvester Stallone action movie,' Murphy said.

"If you give me anything that any action star has, I'm not going to play it like Stallone, I'm not going to play it like Tom Cruise, I'm going to play it like me so it adds this funny element to it."

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is on Netflix July 3.

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