Summary

Collider’s Michael Zimmerman interviews comedy icon Eddie Murphy about ‘The Pickup’.

Murphy discusses not doing his own stunts to prioritize laughter over potential harm on set.

He also teases updates on Shrek 5 and a Donkey spin-off.

Eddie Murphy is looking to once again provide audiences with some good summer fun in Prime Video’s new action-comedy film, The Pickup, which is now available to stream. In the film, a routine cash pickup takes a turn for the worse and thrusts two armored truck drivers with vastly different personalities into the worst day on the job they could imagine, as criminals ambush their truck as part of a plan masterminded by Zoe (Keke Palmer). The mismatched driver duo, Russell (Murphy) and Travis (Pete Davidson), are forced to navigate danger and their constantly clashing personalities as the day unfolds and the criminal group forces them into the middle of their plan. In an exclusive interview with Collider’s Michael Zimmerman, Murphy discusses how improvisation was central to delivering the comedy of The Pickup, and which cast member his banter with is at the core of the film. Murphy also reveals whether he did his own stunts for the film, and teases the future of the beloved Shrek franchise, which he continues to be a key part of two decades after it initially hit theaters.
Improvisation Is Key in ‘The Pickup’

“We want to do a nice fun summer movie where you just go with escapism and guilty pleasure fun.”

COLLIDER: Hi Eddie, I’m Michael Zimmerman with Collider. It’s nice to meet you. EDDIE MURPHY: What’s going on Michael? Nice to meet you too, bro. It’s truly an honor to speak with you and I really enjoyed this film. A lot of action, a lot of comedy. It was so fun. MURPHY: Thanks, man. We’re trying to do this one to just be fun. Be fun in these turbulent times. We want to do a nice fun summer movie where you just go with escapism and guilty pleasure fun. What added to the fun was the back and forth between yourself and Pete, which is hilarious. Now you’ve said you try to give the filmmakers what’s on the page for each tick, but was there any improv at all between you two? MURPHY: Absolutely. That’s at the center. That’s the cornerstone of every movie I’ve ever done. We have to be able to improvise. For me, that’s how, lots of times, you get new stuff, you get new funny stuff, and it gives the feeling that every take you do something, you do it a little differently, it gives you the feeling that it’s new. If you make a movie, or you do a scene in a movie and if something’s funny, then you’re going to shoot that funny moment 10 to 20 different times at different angles and beat all the life out of it. So it’s like you try to make it fresh. We got to do this every time and try to keep it alive by improvising.
Eddie Murphy Does Not Do His Own Stunts

And if a particular incident had happened to him on set, he would’ve needed to be airlifted out.

In this film, the truck is almost a character in itself. What would you say the most difficult action sequence or stunt was when filming? MURPHY: Well, not difficult stuff for me because I’m not doing any stunts. I’m not trying to do no stunts. You might see other actors, movie stars, do their own stunts and get older, and they still… People are coming to see me to laugh, so it’s not important that I really jump out the window. You get the stuntman to jump out the window and do it. I never really do any stunts. I’ll do fight scenes and stuff like that. You have to do some physical stuff so you can tie you into the stunt and make it look like you did it, but I don’t be doing it. I’m not trying to get fucked up on a set. With those fight scenes, how much prep do you need to do in order to match what the stunt guys do? MURPHY: I’ve done so many movies. I kind of know how to do a fight and stuff like that. Every now and then, the last one we were doing, The Pickup, there was a scene where I’m fighting a guy, and he’s got a helmet on. I just snatch his helmet off, and this fucker had his earring in, and he ripped his earring out. I was like, “Oh my god, I’m so sorry.” He’s a stuntman, so he was like, “I’m good.” His ear’s bleeding. He was like, “Keep rolling.” I was like, “My god.” But that’s why I don’t do stunts. If I was doing that scene, and they ripped my helmet and ripped my earring out, we would have to shut down production. They would have to have a helicopter fly me into the hospital. It would be on an IV drip for a month. Did you learn any Spanish from Eva while on set? MURPHY: “Pendejo.” That’s what I learned. She called me a pendejo. She called me a pendejo, and I was like, “I don’t know what that means, but we’re putting it in the movie.” I didn’t learn any Spanish from her. I knew a few curse words going in.
Shrek 5 is Underway, and Soon the Donkey Spin-Off Will Be as Well

“I’ve done a lot of really funny stuff on this new Shrek one.”

Now, I finally have to ask, how excited are you to come back as Donkey for Shrek 5? What can you tease about it, and how does it compare to those first four films? MURPHY: We’re still making the movie about two years into it. You can’t tell what the movie is. With any of the Shrek movies, you don’t know what it is because you don’t get a script. When you go to do a session, you get like, “Okay, here are the scenes that we’re going to do.” Maybe sometimes they’ll draw some pictures so you can see a little storyboard. But then you just go in and do it, and you don’t know what it’s going to be like. Then the next session, you just do these voiceovers. So you don’t know what it’s going to be until you see the whole movie. I’ve done a lot of really funny stuff on this new Shrek one. So I don’t know how they’re going to cut it together, but the Donkey character, I just fall in, and it’s second nature. And it’s really funny stuff just comes out. Because I do a lot of improvising with that too. And it’s just, I’m playing a cell-cam, and I’m a jackass, and I’m high energy. “Okay, I got that.” And we just go and come up with all kinds of shit. And we’re doing a Donkey movie. We’re doing Shrek 5. Yeah, we’re doing Shrek 5. And in September, we start doing Donkey. We’re doing this online. You know, like the cat, Puss in Boots, had his own movie. Now, Donkey’s going to have his own movie too. I’m really excited. The Pickup is now streaming on Prime Video.

The Pickup

Release Date

August 6, 2025

Runtime

94 Minutes

Director

Tim Story

Writers

Matt Mider, Kevin Burrows

Producers

Eddie Murphy, John Davis, Tim Story, John Fox