Eddie Murphy says Sidney Poitier told him not to join Malcolm X: 'You are not Denzel'
Murphy later speculated on why Poitier viewed him as a different kind of movie star than Washington or Freeman. "I was in uncharted waters. For Sidney and all those guys, when I showed up, it was something kinda new," he explained. "They didn't have a reference for me, they couldn't give me advice, 'cause I was 20, 21 years old, and my audience was the mainstream — all of everywhere. My movies [were] all around the world, and they had never had that with a young Black person. So nobody could give me advice, really. Everything broke really big and really fast."
Murphy was still considering the offer when he crossed paths with Poitier. "Around that same time, I bumped into Sidney Poitier at something, and I asked him, 'Yeah, I'm thinking about playing Alex Haley!'" he remembered. "And Sidney Poitier said, 'You are not Denzel, and you are not Morgan. You are a breath of fresh air, and don't f--- with that!'"
