CHECK OUT OUR INTERVIEW WITH EDDIE MURPHY!!

Q: Hi Eddie, thanks for your time.

A: No problem. Nice to be here.

Q: There’s a great message in Imagine That. It’s something parents and children can relate to. You play Evan Danielson, a financial executive struggling to balance being a dad to his young daughter, but also staying at the top of his game in his high-pressure job.

A: Yes, it’s something parents have to deal with. It’s an important issue. Being a parent is the most important job of all.

Q: How do you do it, Eddie? You have eight children. It must be hard being a movie star and a Dad.

A: Your children are the most important things. The world starts to evolve around them and it's not like you juggle your work and time with them.

Q: So your kids are a higher priority than your work?

A: There are certain times you just have to give to them completely and you can't be doing anything else except them. You can't juggle with your babies.

Q: But isn’t that hard?

A: No, because it works itself out. They let you know when they need you.

Q: There’s a wonderful supporting cast in Imagine That. There’s Oscar nominee Thomas Haden Church and Martin Sheen.

A: I loved Thomas in Sideways. He’s a great actor and Martin is one of the best out there.

Q: There’s also nine-year-old Yara Shahidi who is taking over Hollywood. Next we’ll see her in Salt with Angelina Jolie and the new Samuel L. Jackson thriller, Unthinkable. But, you apparently gave Yara her big break by casting her first in Imagine That.

A: Yes, she’s a wonderful, amazing actress.

Q: Is it true she beat 2,000 other girls who auditioned for the part of your daughter, Olivia, in Imagine That?

A: There were a lot of girls who tried out, but Yara was special.

Q: In what way? What did you see in her?

A: I saw a good little actress. I didn't realize how vivid her imagination was until we got on the set and she started writing extra stuff and dialogue to the movie.

Q: Really? At only nine-years-old?

A: Yeah. She’s amazing.

Q: Your career has also been amazing. You have been the king of American comedy since the 1980s. Your stand-up comedy concert performances, Delirious and Raw, changed the face of stand-up. As a 19-year-old you revitalized Saturday Night Live and you are one of the biggest box office draws in Hollywood history with 48 Hours, Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cop, The Golden Child, Coming to America and the list goes on.

A: It’s a long list (laughs).

Q: Well, I did read that when you turn 50, which is less than two years away, you plan to retire and become a “gentleman of leisure”.

A: I could. I could (laughs).

Q: So it is true. Eddie Murphy may retire from show business in 2011?

A: Sometimes I feel like it. When I turn 50 I would have been making movies for 30 years. That's a long time.

Q: What does a gentleman of leisure do?

A: I think I want to just go on a cruise (laughs)..

Q: How about one final world stand-up comedy tour? You have fans around the world that would love to see you before you say goodbye.

A: (laughs) That's not retiring - going and doing a stand-up tour. That's even more work. Being a professional gentleman of leisure means you stop doing everything and then for the rest of my life I just sit around and go 'You know, back in the old days. Back when I was making this movie'. I'll be that guy for the next 25 years.

Q: I can picture you in your robe and slippers sitting on a big, comfortable chair doing that.

A: (Laughs) Yeah. I’ll just stare at the wall and think about the good old days. I think it could be fun.

Q: Thanks Eddie.

A: It’s been a pleasure

CHECK OUT IMAGINE THAT ON DVD FEB 4!