Director Reginald Hudlin, screenwriter Kelly Younger, and cast members Jillian Bell, Chris Redd and Robin Thede discuss working with the “comedic genius”.
Eddie Murphy’s new Christmas film Candy Cane Lane has just arrived on Prime Video – and the stars and creative team behind the project have revealed that working with the “comedic genius” was like a “Christmas miracle”.
Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com shortly after the film’s LA premiere this week, director Reginald Hudlin, screenwriter Kelly Younger and cast members Jillian Bell, Chris Redd and Robin Thede were all effusive in their praise for the iconic actor and comedian.
“He’ll just, you know, take a scene – sometimes not even changing the dialogue, it’s just his delivery that’ll be brilliant or his facial expression will be brilliant, or [he] will start freestyling – and then it’s like, ‘Oh, my God,’” said Hudlin.
“I mean, for example, when he has that confrontation in the track meet… we didn’t rehearse that, I would just say, like, ‘Okay, we’re gonna start shooting and have a bunch of guys attack you.’ And then [he goes] pow, pow, pow, and you’re like, ‘Oh, my God.’”
Meanwhile, Younger explained that “everything changed” when Murphy was cast in the lead role of Chris Carver, revealing that the star was able to bring his own personality and memories to the part.
“That was the biggest Christmas miracle, is to get Eddie Murphy to be in your movie,” he said. “You know, I originally wrote this character and I wrote this family to, like, represent every family. I wanted them to be an every family.
“But then, you know, when I first met Eddie, I asked him, ‘What does Christmas mean to you?’ And he said, ‘It means everything.’ And he told me about his family traditions, how he overdecorates, what he does with his family.
“And so he really identified with his character and brought a lot of his own personal life to it, so it was much easier to then write with him in mind the more I got to know him and work with him.”
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For Redd – the comedian who voices a character called Lamplighter Gary in the film – it was the chance to improvise with Murphy that was especially appealing about the project.
“You improvise for years with hopes of going to the big game, when you’re alongside an icon, a legend, and you just get to, like, see if you can make him laugh, see if you can break him or just hang in the same realm,” he explained.
“It was just the best – and it also kept you on your A-game. Like, I came to work every day knowing I needed to dunk, like, at least once today.
“I mean, I just liked that spirit of having somebody that you know was better than you. So it just brings out the best in me, you know?”
Bell added that Murphy was “an absolute legend” and agreed with Redd that improvising him was a dream come true.
“When you get to that level to improvise against him, you just forget everyone else you ever improvised with,” she laughed. “You just throw them away.
“No, it’s unbelievable. It’s unreal to look over and be like, ‘Oh, there’s Eddie Murphy’s smile.’ Like, it’s so iconic. It’s such a great feeling to get him to laugh.”
Meanwhile, Thede added that she and her co-stars made it their goal to make Murphy laugh just once per day.
“We spent half of the time on set and the other half in sound booths recording,”she said. “And when we would go back to our sound booths. If we got one, we’d be like, ‘We got one!’
“And it’s like, you know, we would just keep our tally for the day. But Chris is right – if we got one, we were good. We were like, ‘I got a laugh. I got a real laugh!’”
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Candy Cane Lane is now streaming on Prime Video. If you’re looking for something to watch on TV tonight or what to watch now, then check out our TV guide. For more movie news, check out our Film hub.
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