You People is unlike any other rom-com, which is exactly why Eddie Murphy was compelled to star in it.
“It was a romantic comedy that was unique because it has this racial conversation that’s going on. The last time you saw that is Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? Most romantic comedies don’t have that,” he recalls to PRIDE about what made him decide to take the role.
Courtesy of Netflix
Not only is You People laugh-out-loud funny (and full-body-squirm-inducingly uncomfortable), it’s also incredibly timely, offering audiences an important message with all those giggles. “Racial tension is at a fever pitch right now so to do a movie, a romantic comedy, with this race dialogue just seemed like that could be a really cool hip thing to do,” says Murphy.
The actor’s character, Akbar Mohammed, is a devout Muslim and a member of the Nation of Islam. He’s also the father of Amira (Lauren London) who, after meeting Jonah Hill’s Ezra during a ride-share meet cute, is swept off her feet. To say that Akbar isn’t thrilled to meet his daughter’s white, Jewish paramour is an understatement! Horrified is perhaps a better descriptor, and he quickly becomes determined to end the relationship before the two can make it down the aisle.
While Ezra’s parents — played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus and David Duchovny — might not oppose the relationship, their tone deafness and tension with Akbar and his wife Fatima (Nia Long) may prove to be just as fatal to the budding romance.
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The result of all this tension is a series of awkward, but necessary, conversations. Murphy shares that this film can serve as a jumping-off point for that in real life. “The film isn’t going to close those divides, the film will just add to the conversation. The collective conversations plus time is how those divides ultimately get closed. The film is just a little teeny little piece of it, a little piece to keep the conversation going,” he explains.
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While all of this makes the movie especially resonant today, it’s also important to remember it’s very funny. Thanks to a razor-sharp script by director and co-writer Kenya Barris (Black-ish, Grown-ish) and, of course, the chemistry of the actors, particularly between Murphy and Hill. The tension crackles when they’re together, a product of both what was on the page and the improvisation skills of the actors.
Courtesy of Netflix
“There’s a great deal of improvising all the stuff that me and Jonah are doing in the movie,” reveals Murphy. “But the script is solid. It’s like, you get all the stuff that’s in the script. And then you do a couple of takes where you add stuff to it. But the stuff that makes the story and the characters and the dialogue is already there and solid before you need to improvise.”
