Eddie Murphy is celebrating forty years as a Hollywood leading man with the return of his most famous screen character – Detective Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.

Murphy has stayed at the top of Tinseltown for that long thanks to brilliant performances, smart business moves and “not stressing” too much, thinks the A-lister.

His wit and screen energy in hits like The Nutty Professor and Shrek franchises, and brilliance in moving roles like Dreamgirls and Dolemite have made him a screen giant.

Incredibly, he has expertly manoeuvred his way through scandals and controversies, which would have derailed other A-listers.

After being stopped by police with a transgender prostitute in his car in LA at 4am in 1997, he insisted that his actions were not illegal but simply those of a “good Samaritan.”

The 63-year-old initially denied being Spice Girl Mel B’s baby daddy to daughter Angel after she fell pregnant and publicly demanded a DNA test in April 2007.

But the pair reconciled in 2016, and are now said to have a good relationship.

He found himself criticised over the homophobic language he’d used in ‘80s standup routines but later apologised without fallout.

He also navigated a disastrous fortnight-long marriage with model Tracey E Edmonds and recovered from his shock 2010s run of movie flops.

The actor and director says he adopts a similar laid-back approach to that of his BHC character Axel Foley, admitting that he’s settled down now as a grandfather to one and father to ten.

Asked if it took him “a while to learn that?”, he replied: “Yeah, I didn’t just walk out of heaven into Hollywood. I went through some s*** to get to that place. It takes a minute, that’s what I learned.”

While others would be derailed by those past troubles and trappings of fame, he never let it impact him.

”I always dealt with stressful things really well and had the least amount of stress,” added Eddie.

“I have aged. I think the only thing I can say that I don’t do that most people do, is you can count the drinks I’ve had in my life on two hands. I don’t mind not drinking. Everything else I do the same as everyone else.”

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Source: CNN