Eddie Murphy Left 2007 Oscars After Losing Best Supporting Actor Because He Didn’t Want to Be ‘The Sympathy Guy All Night’

Key Highlights

• And I was like, ‘Oh, no, no, I’m not gonna be this guy all night.
• Let’s just leave.’ I didn’t storm out.
• I was like, ‘I’m not gonna be the sympathy guy all night.'” Popular on Variety Related Stories George Clooney Says He's No Longer 'Kissing Girls' in Movies: 'When I Turned 60 I Had a Conversation With My Wife' Trump Mocks George and Amal Clooney For Becoming French Citizens: 'Two of the Worst Political Prognosticators of All Time' Other best supporting actor nominees that year included Mark Wahlberg for “The Departed,” Alan Arkin for “Little Miss Sunshine,” Jackie Earle Haley for “Little Children” and Djimon Hounsou for “Blood Diamond.” Arkin walked away with the win.
• Murphy recalled seeing an early screening of “Little Miss Sunshine.” He said he was extremely impressed with Arkin’s performance and predicted his Oscar win.
• “Jeff Katzenberg invited me over to see ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ six months before it came out in the theaters, and I literally watched the movie and I watched Alan — and I hadn’t been nominated or anything yet — and I watched the movie and I turned to Jeff afterwards and I said, ‘Now that performance right there is one of those performances that will steal somebody’s Oscar.’ I said those exact words,” Murphy said.