Eddie Murphy Had One Audition, And It Changed Everything

Ever wonder what it’s like to just know you’re destined for fame? Eddie Murphy sure did! And he spills all about it in Number One on the Call Sheet, the new two-part documentary on Apple TV+.

The first episode, "Black Leading Men in Hollywood," directed by Reginald Hudlin, dives into Murphy’s one-of-a-kind rise to superstardom. According to him, making it big wasn’t a maybe—it was a when.

“Early on, I just knew I was going to be fa— I started when I’m around 16, I’m going, ‘I’m gonna be famous,’” Murphy says.

And he wasn’t just dreaming—he was predicting. The documentary flashes back to a 1981 clip of a fresh-faced, super-confident Murphy calling his shot:

"I wanna get, I would say famous by the time I’m 21," he says. "I’m 19 now. I give myself two years."

And, well… he nailed it. By 20, he landed his first film role—without even auditioning. Turns out, he was so good on Saturday Night Live that Hollywood just handed him the part, pairing him with Nick Nolte in 48 Hrs.

"When I was 19, I got Saturday Night Live, and things just started happening. I didn’t go through all of the stuff that a lot of actors, I didn’t go through auditions," Murphy says. "I had one audition in my whole life. I think I’m the only actor that could say that. I had one audition. It was for Saturday Night Live."

Now streaming on Apple TV+, Number One on the Call Sheet also features Hollywood heavyweights like Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Angela Bassett, Halle Berry, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, celebrating Black actors who have led the way.