‘Candy Cane Lane’ Stars Tell Us What Eddie Murphy Is Really Like

I adore Christmas movies. So, naturally, when I heard that Eddie Murphy was starring in Candy Cane Lane alongside Tracee Ellis Ross, Jillian Bell, Chris Redd and Robin Thede, I instantly felt festive.

Candy Cane Lane is an ‘adventure’ Christmas movie, with the actors getting to flex their comedic chops. The premise is simple, yet bizarre. Family man Chris Carver, played by Eddie Murphy, gets laid off just before Christmas. Instead of doing what most people would do, looking for another job, he dedicates all his time to winning a $100,000 prize for having the best festive light display on his street Candy Cane Lane. 

He makes an underworld deal with evil elf Pepper (short for Peppermint, if you were wondering) – played by Workaholics’ Jillian Bell – to win the competition, but doesn’t check the terms and conditions. Rookie mistake. 

Cue Chris indulging in ridiculous tasks based on ‘The Twelve Days Of Christmas’ to avoid being turned into an ornament for good. Some of the jokes are so bizarre – like when Chris’ son gets attacked by a maid-a-milking – that you can’t help but cackle. 

What is Eddie Murphy really like? His co-stars share stories from Candy Cane Lane.

The cast is stacked with writers and comedians, including SNL’s Chris Redd and A Black Lady Sketch Show’s Robin Thede, so the cast was given license to improvise… but doing it in front of comedy icon Eddie Murphy? That’s gotta be terrifying. 

Jillian’s character goes toe-to-toe with Eddie’s character throughout the film, and she told Punkee that their first scene together wasn’t the most conventional.

“The first scene I got to do with Eddie, was actually the scene where I am upside down… doing a full scene, and then trying to improvise at the end of it a bunch of [alternate takes], and at the end, Eddie and Tracee laughed, and I was like ‘Oh, thank goodness’. Like, that was worth it,” Jillian said. 

Eddie Murphy, Jillian Bell and Madison Thomas in Candy Cane Lane. Image credit: Prime Video, Candy Cane Lane

The saying goes that you should never meet your heroes, but for the cast, Eddie completely lived up to their expectations. “He’s hilarious on and off set, you’re just getting Eddie Murphy,” Robin said. “We would get to set early just to watch [him]. He’s incredible and so sweet.”

Chris chimed in by saying that he was “geeking the whole time”, and was surprised that Eddie seemed so “chill” when the camera wasn’t rolling. “I’m waiting for the Eddie Murphy-isms, like him to get loud… when they say ‘action’, he just jumps into it,” he recalled.

What makes Candy Cane Lane different to other Christmas movies?

Candy Cane Lane is refreshing and a return to the hard comedies of the ‘90s. When I ask the cast what makes this movie different to what’s already out there, both Robin and Chris joke that it’s having “Black people” in it, before bursting into laughter. 

Ornaments voiced by Robin Thede, Nick Offerman and Chris Redd. Image credit: Prime Video, Candy Cane Lane

Chris said that there’s also a combination of genre elements wrapped up in a nice bow – action, jumpscares, and comedy. Plus, he’s a big fan of the animated characters (I’m not sure if that’s just because he is one of those, but they are pretty nifty). 

“It’s [also] a family [movie] that’s really grounded in reality,” Robin added. “I don’t think it feels like… I love Home Alone, but do we really believe you’re going to leave your child once you’re already on a flight? This feels very grounded and rooted in something that you can imagine a family who’s really into Christmas would do.”

What was it like for Jillian Bell to play a villain?

Former SNL writer Jillian is known for her loveable characters, like Jillian on Workaholics and fairy godmother Eleanor in Godmothered. Her role in Candy Cane Lane as a scheming elf is a far cry from what she’s done before, and, she hopes, nothing like how she is in real life. 

“It was so much fun, it was a blast [to play Pepper], it’s hopefully the opposite of who I am,” she exclaimed. “To come in and play someone that mischievous… it’s so different for me and I just didn’t want it to end when it was over.”

Eddie Murphy, Jillian Bell and Madison Thomas in Candy Cane Lane. Image credit: Prime Video, Candy Cane Lane

There was one element from her personality that she borrowed for the film, and that’s her evil laugh. Apparently, a booming laugh comes out of her when something is just that funny, but her mum isn’t convinced it’s real.

“[The laugh is] just naturally within me. My mum all the time will be like, ‘That’s not one of your natural laughs’, and I’m like, ‘No, I think it is’,” she said. “It’s weirdly in there. It’s just [that] something has to really tickle me and [the joke] has to be a little naughty to get that laugh out.”

Candy Cane Lane is now available to stream on Prime Video.

–
Image credits: Amazon Prime Video, Candy Cane Lane