Director Reginald Hudlin, screenwriter Kelly Younger, and cast members Jillian Bell, Chris Redd and Robin Thede discuss working with the “comedic genius”. <\/p>
Eddie Murphy\u2019s new Christmas film Candy Cane Lane has just arrived on Prime Video<\/a> \u2013 and the stars and creative team behind the project have revealed that working with the \u201ccomedic genius\u201d was like a \u201cChristmas miracle\u201d.<\/p>\n Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com<\/a> shortly after the film\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019ll just, you know, take a scene \u2013 sometimes not even changing the dialogue, it\u2019s just his delivery that\u2019ll be brilliant or his facial expression will be brilliant, or [he] will start freestyling \u2013 and then it\u2019s like, \u2018Oh, my God,’\u201d said Hudlin.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, for example, when he has that confrontation in the track meet\u2026 we didn\u2019t rehearse that, I would just say, like, \u2018Okay, we\u2019re gonna start shooting and have a bunch of guys attack you.\u2019 And then [he goes] pow, pow, pow, and you\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, my God.’\u201d<\/p> Meanwhile, Younger explained that \u201ceverything changed\u201d 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was the biggest Christmas miracle, is to get Eddie Murphy to be in your movie,\u201d he said. \u201cYou know, I originally wrote this character and I wrote this family to, like, represent every family. I wanted them to be an every family.<\/p>\n \u201cBut then, you know, when I first met Eddie, I asked him, \u2018What does Christmas mean to you?\u2019 And he said, \u2018It means everything.\u2019 And he told me about his family traditions, how he overdecorates, what he does with his family.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n For Redd \u2013 the comedian who voices a character called Lamplighter Gary in the film \u2013 it was the chance to improvise with Murphy that was especially appealing about the project.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cYou improvise for years with hopes of going to the big game, when you\u2019re 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,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was just the best \u2013 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI 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?\u201d<\/p>\n Bell added that Murphy was \u201can absolute legend\u201d and agreed with Redd that improvising him was a dream come true.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you get to that level to improvise against him, you just forget everyone else you ever improvised with,\u201d she laughed. \u201cYou just throw them away.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, it\u2019s unbelievable. It\u2019s unreal to look over and be like, \u2018Oh, there\u2019s Eddie Murphy\u2019s smile.\u2019 Like, it\u2019s so iconic. It\u2019s such a great feeling to get him to laugh.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Thede added that she and her co-stars made it their goal to make Murphy laugh just once per day.<\/p>\n \u201cWe spent half of the time on set and the other half in sound booths recording,\u201dshe said. \u201cAnd when we would go back to our sound booths. If we got one, we\u2019d be like, \u2018We got one!\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cAnd it\u2019s like, you know, we would just keep our tally for the day. But Chris is right \u2013\u00a0 if we got one, we were good. We were like, \u2018I got a laugh. I got a real laugh!’\u201d<\/p>\n [squirrel-affiliate-playlist squirrel_playlist_id=\u201d609\u2033 \/]<\/p>\n Candy Cane Lane is now streaming on Prime Video. If you\u2019re looking for something to watch on TV tonight or what to watch now, then check out our TV guide<\/a>. For more movie news, check out our\u00a0Film<\/a>\u00a0hub.<\/strong><\/p>\n Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only \u00a310 \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n Director Reginald Hudlin, screenwriter Kelly Younger, and cast members Jillian Bell, Chris Redd and Robin Thede discuss working with the “comedic genius”. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":40917,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/candy-cane-lane-stars-working-with-eddie-murphy-was-a-christmas-miracle.jpg",620,413,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/candy-cane-lane-stars-working-with-eddie-murphy-was-a-christmas-miracle-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/candy-cane-lane-stars-working-with-eddie-murphy-was-a-christmas-miracle-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/candy-cane-lane-stars-working-with-eddie-murphy-was-a-christmas-miracle.jpg",620,413,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/candy-cane-lane-stars-working-with-eddie-murphy-was-a-christmas-miracle.jpg",620,413,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/candy-cane-lane-stars-working-with-eddie-murphy-was-a-christmas-miracle.jpg",620,413,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/candy-cane-lane-stars-working-with-eddie-murphy-was-a-christmas-miracle.jpg",620,413,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Director Reginald Hudlin, screenwriter Kelly Younger, and cast members Jillian Bell, Chris Redd and Robin Thede discuss working with the \"comedic genius\".","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/40916"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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