Eddie Murphy has a famous career, but at one point he received marvelous advice from Sidney Poitier about his career.

In the documentary Number one on the call sheet: black leading men in HollywoodThe Snl Star remembered, “They talked about making Malcolm X. Norman Jewison (Initally he was ready to instruct the project, but later Spike Lee does) put it together. They would use the autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley. And they approached me to play Alex Haley.”

Given the offer, Eddie said he had come across Sidney, who in turn gave him advice that left him confused.

“Around the same time I came across Sidney Poitier on something, and I asked him,” yes, I’m thinking of playing Alex Haley! “” He continued.

“And Sidney Poitier said, ‘You’re not Denzel and you’re not Morgan. You’re a fresh breath and not ***** with it!,’ Said the 63-year-old.

“I didn’t know if it was an insult or a compliment,” speculated Eddie and added, “I was like, ‘what?'”

But Shrek Star took a deep dive in Sidney’s remarks and speculated on why The jackal Star thought he was different from Denzel Washington or Morgan Freeman.

“I was in unprotected waters. For Sidney and all these guys when I showed up, it was something a little new. They didn’t have a reference to me, they couldn’t give me advice because I was 20 years old, 21 years old, and my audience was mainstream – everyone everywhere,” The nutty professor Added.

“My movies [were] All over the world and they had never had it with a young black person. So no one could give me advice, really. Everything really broke big and really fast, ”Eddie concluded.