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Acting , Interview , The Daily Roundup

Chantal Nchako Reveals What Eddie Murphy Taught Her on the Set of ‘Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’


July 22, 2024

It’s really good to be Chantal Nchako. She’ll tell you that herself, with a wide smile and a gleeful declaration of how happy she is. It’s contagious. Talk to her for twenty minutes and you’ll be happy, too.

The Cameroonian actress speaks several languages, has her Italian shoe line and just this month, brazenly stole a scene from Eddie Murphy in Netflix’s Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, which sees the star return to his signature role for the first time in three decades. The movie is vintage Murphy, capturing much of what made the franchise so popular in the first place. 

However, as funny as the movie is, it is never as funny as when Nchako is on screen. She only appears in a single scene, as a stubborn meter maid, but in that one scene, she plants her flag and, in uproarious fashion, upstages one of cinema’s all-time great comedians.

The movie is almost worth seeing for that one moment, and Nchako is understandably riding high from it. She spoke to us from Sicily, where she lives part-time and where she just directed a children’s musical version of Tarzan.

How did you get into acting?

I grew up in Cameroon, West Africa, and it was a way to assimilate. It took off when we moved to the States when I was 11. I just didn’t have any friends. I couldn’t find a way in. People were so much ahead of me as far as culture, so I used sports and adapting and learning and mimicking, and that’s what led me into acting.

We moved around a lot, and I had to adapt, which came by transforming into this character, being able to come in and out. That’s how it started. I’ve always acted. 

How did that then turn into a career?

I always knew that I wanted to be an actress. When I was in Cameroon, my mom used to play Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals for us and I wanted to be that. I was in high school, and I knew I wanted to perform, but didn’t know that they had it actually as a college major. I thought that people just went out and worked.

I kind of stumbled over Phylicia Rashad and Debbie Allen, and saw that they both went to Howard University, and I said, “That’s where I’m going to go.” That was the only school I applied to, and I studied drama. 

You’ve been a working actress for years, but this role in Beverly Hills Cop is the biggest thing you’ve done.

Yes. I’ve done Madam Secretary on TV, but as far as movies, this is the biggest. Also as far as working with actors, the legend Eddie Murphy, yeah, it’s the biggest. 

Chantal Nchako in a black and white shirt sitting in a chair smiling. Photo courtesy of Bonnie Nichoalds.

Your one scene is with him. What is that like working with someone of that stature? What did you get from being able to work closely with him?

First of all, this was a dream come true. My mom always told me I was going to work with Eddie Murphy. Ever since I was a child, she said, “That’s going to be your ticket.” I was like, “Okay, yeah, you don’t know what you’re talking about,” but it happened, and he was so kind.

When he was walking up to me, it hadn’t hit me until that moment and the first thing I said to him was that it was such an honor to be here with him, and the director said, “You won’t be honored when he throws you off that buggy!” (Laughs)

I told him my family would flip if they knew that this was happening, and that just opened up the doors. He gave me little tidbits, because it’s different being on a studio film. He was so generous with his time, with his knowledge. I kept calling him Mr. Murphy, and he said to stop [because] “It makes me feel old.” It’s absolutely one of the best experiences of my entire life. 

What was the most useful thing you got from him?

He gave me the confidence to improvise with him. He improvs a lot [and] you just don’t know when it’s coming out. You have to be ready for it. There were moments where I just went for it. When I say, “You’re going to learn today,” that’s all me.

The thing I learned from him is that he closes up the spaces between the lines. Sometimes you write something, but when you’re in front of a person there might be some space, so he fills it in.

There was something else he did for me, too, that was just amazing. When I told him how my family would flip if they knew I was working with him, in between camera changes, he called over the set photographer and took a picture with me, then said, “Make sure she gets those prints tonight.” By the time I got back to my trailer, I had four prints. Three of myself with Eddie and one of them was our still from the movie.

That’s awesome. So now, after he was so generous, do you feel guilty about stealing the scene from him?

NO! (Laughs) It’s like he gave me permission. It was like fight or flight. 

Have you been getting more attention from this? There aren’t a lot of one-scene parts that allow an actor to shine like that.

It’s overwhelming. Being a journeyman actor, you’re trained to work, to be part of the ensemble. And work begets work, so you never really think, “Oh, stardom.”

So many people have been reaching out to me over this, and I’m so grateful because there aren’t a lot of opportunities for people like me. I just have to be real. I’m really happy that it’s happening. I’m really happy people like the thing, too. I’m excited to see what happens. Nothing quite concrete yet, but it’s right around the corner. I’m going to take a book out of my mom’s page and go, it’s there. 

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