10 Insane Things Studios DEMANDED In Movies
4. It Needs A White Cast Member - Coming to America
When the legendary 1988 Eddie Murphy comedy Coming to America was in pre-production, Paramount Pictures reportedly insisted that the large, predominantly Black ensemble cast needed to have one major white cast member.
According to Murphy's co-star Arsenio Hall, he and Murphy were given a list of three white comedians to choose from, and ultimately picked the late Louie Anderson, who they were friendly and familiar with.
In an interview before the release of the 2022 sequel Coming 2 America, Hall said that though he loves Anderson, he and Murphy were "forced" to include a white actor in the film by the studio, who were bullish about releasing a big-budget Hollywood comedy with an all-Black cast.
This being the 1980s, it was a predictably conservative response from a movie studio fretting over their bottom line, even though it's safe to say that the bulk of Coming to America's $350 million box office gross wasn't at all a result of Anderson's presence.