The Pickup's Eddie Murphy on no longer being the young maverick: 'I'm the old voice of reason now'

"It’s a buddy comedy, but now I’m not the young maverick, I’m the old voice of reason," he tells RadioTimes.com in an exclusive interview.

The movie follows two mismatched armoured truck drivers who get ambushed by ruthless criminals during a routine pickup, with Murphy's character teaming up with a younger colleague played by Pete Davidson.

"I thought that the conflict between the young guy and the older guy, the white guy and the black guy and the married guy and the single guy would create comedy," explains Murphy.

"This is a cool way to be funny in a new and different way. If we did 48 Hrs [now], I’d play the Nick Nolte character – because that’s the age I am!"

Finding comedy in different situations and from different perspectives is something that Murphy has enjoyed throughout his career, which has spanned over 40 years.

To illustrate this, he references his love for makeup and prosthetics in movies such as The Nutty Professor and Coming to America.

"If I put on some makeup and you turn me into an old lady, now I have to be funny like an old lady. I can’t be funny in the same way, I have to find a way to be funny with that character."

For director Tim Story, working with a comedic actor like Murphy was a blessing because of the way he brings his distinct humour and unpredictable improv to every scene he appears in.

"Eddie told us early on that when it comes to the writing, don’t worry about the humour, he will make it funny. Just make sure the scenes make sense," says the filmmaker.

Murphy adds that a great story must be the foundation of every good comedy and the humour will naturally follow.

Just as vital, he says, is a degree of unpredictability – to take the audience on a journey they’re not expecting.

"How many times have you been to the movies and 10 minutes in you know that these people are going to have a fight, those people are going to sleep together and this is going to happen?" he muses. "That's most movies.

"But a great story unfolds and you don’t know what’s going to happen. With a great story, within five minutes you get pulled into it and you’re not even trying to figure out what’s going to happen, you’re watching it as the story unfolds. You’ve got to have a good story at the centre of it."

Joining Eddie Murphy in The Pickup are Keke Palmer and the aforementioned Pete Davidson. Both actors relished the opportunity to star in a "giant big-budget action movie", but were most excited about getting the opportunity to work alongside the Trading Places star.

A lot of the movie took place inside a truck and relied heavily on the natural chemistry between Davidson and Murphy. The pair are both Saturday Night Live alumni and that improvisational comedy background created a spontaneous energy on set.

"The term GOAT is thrown around a lot today, but it actually does apply to him," Davidson says. "After we would do a take, as soon as we got it, we just messed around and Tim [Story] was like, 'Go nuts!'

"He gave us the trust to find fun stuff and we would find stuff that works and keep hammering it home and it was a blast. It was fun to work with someone who is exceptional at improv."

Murphy adds: "I always feel like I have to improvise and I love working with other actors who can improvise too because it brings the words to life.

"You give them the words that are on the paper and you give them some extra stuff or take some stuff out just to make it feel like a real conversation."

Palmer recently starred alongside SZA in the buddy comedy One of Them Days – which was released in March – and the Nope actress says that her experience with Murphy on the set of The Pickup was an inspiring moment on how to approach comedy as an actor.

"He never overdoes anything, that’s the gift of Eddie Murphy," she says. "He lets the situation be what it is and he builds the improv around the context that you maybe didn’t know was there.

"He’s not only being the voice in the room but being the voice in the audience and he does that effortlessly. Seeing how he did that really empowered me in a lot of ways to do it that way too."

The Pickup is on Prime Video from Wednesday 6th August 2025.

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