The Beverly Hills Cop series thrives on Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold and John Ashton as a cult trio. In an interview, Reinhold and Ashton talked about their co-star, the shoot and the future of the franchise
Axel Foley is back. 30 years after Beverly Hills Cop III, Eddie Murphy once again takes on the role of the cult investigator and celebrates his return to Netflix with Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. on July 3, 2024. At his side are his beloved co-stars from the very beginning: John Ashton and Judge Reinhold as John Taggart and Billy Rosewood.
In the Moviepilot interview, Reinhold and Ashton show a genuine enthusiasm for their series, even though success with Beverly Hills Cop 1984 was anything but a foregone conclusion. They rave about Eddie Murphy and their chemistry together. And finally, they take a look at the future of the action series.
Moviepilot: What were your favorite scenes in the old Beverly Hills Cop movies?
Judge Reinhold: The scene where all three of us are in the car together. It was the first scene we shot together. It was magical to feel that chemistry again. We just picked up where we left off. I hadn’t seen Eddie for ten years. So he gets in the car and says, “Well, at least we still look like our characters.” [Laughs].
(Judge Reinhold, Eddie Murphy and John Ashton in the first Beverly Hills Cop)
John Ashton: We shot that scene in almost the same location as the first movie. It was almost eerie. One of the crew members said to me, “I saw the first movie when I was eight years old. You three in the car together again, it gives me goosebumps.” Mark Molloy sat in the footwell in front of the back seats during the scene because he really wanted to be there.
Did you always know that Beverly Hills Cop 1 would be a big hit?
Ashton: Judge and I met at the audition, but the first scene the three of us shot was the strip club scene. We hit it off immediately. But I don’t worry about the future of the movies. I don’t ask myself whether a movie will be successful or win Oscars. I just want to do good work and have fun.
Reinhold: We had great faith in Marty Brest, who made the movie The Pensioner Gang in 1979. We just knew he had talent. But [Beverly Hills Cop 1] jumps a lot between hard action scenes and humor. I wasn’t sure if it would work. At that time [there was no such thing]. If we didn’t invent the action comedy, we at least helped define it. It felt provocative and that was exciting.
Watch the latest trailer for Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. here:
Ashton: Marty Brest let us really explore the characters and gave us the freedom to create the characters. In Part 1, there’s the scene where we awkwardly climb over a wall. We were only five meters from the end of the wall, and I said to him, “Why don’t we walk around the outside?” And he just replied: “Because it’s not funny!” In the finished movie, you don’t see how far the wall goes. It would actually have been a good gag to reveal that
