Eddie Murphy Tells Al Roker He Might Bring Back Buckwheat & Other Characters for ‘SNL’ Return

During an exclusive interview, Murphy touches on his past at SNL and what fans can expect during his return this weekend.

Eddie Murphy will return to Saturday Night Live as a host this weekend, today in an interview with Al Roker he reminisces about his experiences on the show.

This Saturday will be Murphy’s first time hosting since leaving the show 35 years ago, he spent four seasons as a cast member.

During the interview the SNL alumni touches on his first moment which took place while he was still in high school. When speaking on this legendary sketch, he shares that he couldn’t wait for the kids he went to school with to see it.

He then speaks on if he knew his life would change after becoming a cast member, “Absolutely not. All I knew at the moment was that I was extremely fortunate that wasn’t lost on me.” He also said, “I knew that I was in an incredible place and the most incredible place for someone like me to be. To cut your teeth [here] is like the Harvard for comic actors.”

On which characters fans can expect to see during the upcoming episode:

“We’re talking about a Gumby thing and we’re talking about a Buckwheat thing and I told you a Bill Cosby thing maybe, that’d be very funny. Mr. Robinson. Velvet Jones. I’m down for whatever as long as it’s really, really funny.”

Recently Murphy starred in the critically acclaimed Netflix film, Dolemite Is My Name. His role in the film has earned him a Golden Globe nomination for the Best Actor category. The movie also is generating Oscar buzz. When speaking on returning to SNL at this moment in his career he shares, “The timing couldn’t be better. You almost think we planned it.”

Head over to Today’s website to watch the entire interview.