# @thewrap on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DH6_hRNyLQA
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/28879652-thewrap-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/4fae401393.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-04-01T23:05:27.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** The Wrap (@thewrap) — https://gondola.cc/thewrap

## Caption

#EddieMurphy was warned by #SidneyPoitier not to star in “Malcolm X.”

During an interview for Apple TV+’s “Number One on the Call Sheet: Black Leading Men in Hollywood,” Murphy revealed he bumped into Poitier and brought up that he had been approached to play Alex Haley in the 1992 film when Norman Jewison was attached to the movie before Spike Lee took over. Poitier was so against it he talked Murphy out of the role.

“They were talking about doing ‘Malcolm X,’” Murphy said. “Norman Jewison was putting it together. They were gonna use ‘The Autobiography of Malcolm X’ by #AlexHaley. And they approached me about playing Alex Haley. Around that same time, I bumped into Sidney Poitier at something, and I asked him, ‘Yeah, I’m thinking about playing Alex Haley!’ And Sidney Poitier said, ‘You are not Denzel [Washington], and you are not Morgan [Freeman]. You are a breath of fresh air, and don’t f–k with that!’”

🔗 link in bio for more on this story.

## Stats

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- **Comments:** 3

## Tags

eddiemurphy, alexhaley, sidneypoitier

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