Pinchot feels a real connection to Murphy, whom he hardly met on the set of the original Beverly Hills Cop.
When Bronson Pinchot’s Serge first sees Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, he pulls his Bentley up to the curb, runs out, and gives Foley a big hug. According to Pinchot, that was a special moment not just for Serge, but for himself as well, as it was the first time he and Murphy had been onscreen together in years. The hug, he told us, was unscripted — something that Pinchot wanted to do, and that felt natural to the character, so he went for it. He also told us about his relationship with Murphy — one that has developed in a surprising way over the years, since he felt very intimidated by the star on the set of the original Beverly Hills Cop.
Talking at length about how he and Murphy survived being celebrities in the 1980s, Pinchot says their bond is tight even when they don’t see each other for a while. He suggests that’s what the audiences is seeing and responding to with their onscreen relationship.
“I’ll tell you something that sounds smarmy, but once in a while, the truth is just kind of gooey,” Pinchot told ComicBook. Recalling the first time he and Murphy shared the screen in decades, Pinchot said that the big hug his character gave Axel was actually something he just…wanted to do. “Younger actors say to me sometimes on a set, ‘How do you make every take different? I want to do that — how do you do that?’ And I say, ‘Oh, just don’t act.’ They say, ‘What?’ And I say, ‘Acting ruins everything. Once in a while you’re going to have to act because you’re on a green screen and you have to pretend that aliens are eating your hips, but if it’s not that, if you’re not doing special effects or the person you’re opposite got the flu and you have to do it to a piece of tape, don’t act.’ So I saw Eddie, and I pulled up and I saw him, and I really did want to give him a hug. I went up and I just crushed him, and I hugged him, and it was real. That was special because it was authentic, and I was happy to see him.”
In Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Detective Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) is back on the beat in Beverly Hills. After his daughter’s life is threatened, she (Taylour Paige) and Foley team up with a new partner (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and old pals Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and John Taggart (John Ashton) to turn up the heat and uncover a conspiracy.
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is now streaming on Netflix.
