The extremely anticipated Coming to America sequel, referred to as Coming 2 America, drops on Amazon Prime on March 5. The unique was launched in 1989 and was an instantaneous traditional. Vanessa Bell Calloway, who portrayed Imani, the girl Eddie Murphy’s character was imagined to marry, says she initially auditioned for the lead however was solid within the smaller function resulting from colorism.
The actress informed Page Six, “When you have white people hiring Black people in movies, sometimes a certain look is wanted.”
She claims the movie’s staff “wanted a light-skinned girl. I just wasn’t light enough, even though Eddie had the final say on who played Lisa.”
Lisa was performed by Shari Headley.
Calloway continued, “That’s something that we’ve always dealt with within our race: A lot of men were indoctrinated by having a white woman or light-skinned woman on their arm… I didn’t want the part of Imani, I wanted to be Lisa — I had read the script and I wanted the bigger role.”
Nonetheless, Calloway says she continues to be grateful to have been within the movie.
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“The real deal is, when you’re in a situation like that, you wanna be a part of an Eddie Murphy movie. I wasn’t gonna say no! I would’ve loved to have had the lead part, but I was very happy to be in the movie. I can’t lie about that. I said, ‘I’ll make the best out of this and I’ll be the best.’ It was a smaller role but it was a glamorous part to play. And Shari did a great job.”
Calloway has a cameo in Coming 2 America, which can see Murphy return as Prince Akeem who is about to be topped as king. However, he quickly discovers that he has a son from Queens, New York that he by no means knew about. To honor his father’s (James Earl Jones) dying want and to arrange his son to be the newly topped prince, Murphy’s beloved character returns to America as soon as once more.
Wesley Snipes, Leslie Jones, Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, Shari Headley and KiKi Layne will even star alongside Murphy.
Watch the newest trailer beneath: