“I’m very appreciative,” Bella Murphy said of her father’s “rule.”

Why Eddie Murphy forbids his kids from acting before they turn 18

"I'm very appreciative," Bella Murphy said of her father's "rule."

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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May 16, 2026 6:10 p.m. ET

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Bella Murphy and Eddie Murphy in Los Angeles on April 13, 2026. Credit:

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

- Eddie Murphy's daughter Bella plays a supporting role in the Sadie Sandler comedy *Roommates*.

- The actress explained why her father has a "rule" that his kids "can't act or work until we're 18."

- She also said her entire family was "so proud and so happy" when she was cast in *Roommates*.

Eddie Murphy's daughter Bella loves making movies — but she wasn't allowed to start her Hollywood career until adulthood.

The actress, who has a supporting role in the recent Netflix movie *Roommates* opposite Sadie Sandler and Chloe East, opened up about her long-held dreams of working in film in a new interview.

"I would always ask my dad, 'Can I please be an extra in this movie, please?'" she told PEOPLE, recalling her childhood. "He'd always say, 'No.'"

Why did the *Beverly Hills Cop* star stop his daughter from following in his footsteps? "Because we have a rule that we can't act or work until we're 18 in this industry," the actress explained. "He really wanted me to have a normal childhood, which I'm very appreciative of."

Bria Murphy, Shayne Audra Murphy, Paige Butcher, Eddie Murphy, and Bella Murphy in 2024.

Steve Granitz/FilmMagic

However, the forbidden fruit of moviemaking became even more delicious in Bella's mind as she kept her distance from the spotlight throughout her youth.

"That kind of made me even more obsessed with it because I was like, 'Oh, I can't do it now. So by the time that I am able to do it, I want to be as prepared as possible,'" she said. "I was like, 'It's the coolest job ever.' I'm like, 'I want to do that.'"

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Bella, who is Murphy's youngest child with his ex-wife, Nicole Mitchell, said she felt like she'd already fully committed to acting by the time she was 9 years old and thought, "I definitely want to do this" before she turned 10.

The actress cited her older sister Bria as one of her primary influences. "She wanted to be an actress before I did, and I was doing the younger sister [thing], like 'I'm going to copy you,'" Bella explained. "And then it worked out. It was actually what I wanted to do, so that was cool."

Jaya Harper, Bella Murphy, Sadie Sandler, and Chloe East in 'Roommates'.

Scott Yamano/Netflix

Bella ended up making her screen debut in her dad's movie *Coming 2 America* in 2021 — and she actually broke his rule, as she played her part in the film as the daughter of Eddie's character Akeem when she was 17.

The *Nutty Professor* star said he didn't pull many strings to cast her. "She had to audition for Craig Brewer, who directed the movie," Murphy said on *Good Morning America* in 2021. "I wasn't musclin' my kid into the movie. She had to really be able to — you know, to deliver. Otherwise, she wouldn't have gotten the role."

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Bella later acted in a 2022 episode of *Dollface* and the 2023 film *Fairyland* before booking *Roommates*, which was produced by Adam Sandler. The actress said her entire family was thrilled when she was cast in the college comedy.

"Everyone was so proud and so happy, and just so excited for me, which is great," she told PEOPLE. "We all love Adam Sandler movies, and we're all obsessed with them, so they were just my number-one cheerleaders with all of it."

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