James Earl Jones and Eddie Murphy were never in the same room while filming Coming 2 America for a very sad reason.
Legendary actor James died at the age of 93 on Monday (September 9), three years after his final movie was released. In 2021, he played King Jaffe Joffer in the Coming To America sequel.
In the movie, King Jaffe Joffer rules over the fictional country of Zamunda. Eddie Murphy’s character Prince Akeem heads to the US to meet a son he never knew he had.
READ MORE: Star Wars and Lion King icon James Earl Jones dies aged 93 as tributes pour in
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King Jaffe Joffer died in the movie, after organising a funeral for himself before he does. Then, during the funeral, he does die – which also brought an end to James’ movie credits before he died too.
Sadly, James and Eddie had to be kept apart during filming – but not because of any sort of fall out. Filming took place during the height of Covid restrictions.
With James being in his 90s, he had to film most of his scenes alone. That meant he and Eddie never actually interacted with each other for real.
Much of the movie was filmed in Atlanta, Georgia while James was based in New York City. He also had Type-2 diabetes, which made it harder for him to travel, on top of all the restrictions.
Craig Brewer, who directed the film, spoke of the filming restrictions on the ReelBlend podcast in 2021. He said: “James Earl Jones and Eddie and Arsenio [Hall], they were never in the same room.
“I had to go to New York and film with James Earl Jones. I was Eddie and Arsenio all day. I acted all day with James Earl Jones.”
James had one final acting credit after Coming 2 America, where he reprised his vocal role of Darth Vader. He is credited for four episodes in Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi.
On Monday, it was announced James had died at his New York home at the age of 93. Countless stars paid tribute, including William Shatner, George Lucas, Danny DeVito and Kerry Washington.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
