Tracee Ellis Ross Reflects on Meeting Eddie Murphy as Diana Ross’ Kid’ (Exclusive)

Eddie Murphy may remember meeting Tracee Ellis Ross when she was younger, but the same can’t be said for the actress.

The Candy Cane Lane stars chatted with ET’s Kevin Frazier at the Los Angeles premiere of Prime Video’s upcoming holiday comedy adventure, where they recalled their first-ever meeting decades prior.

“Yes, I met her when she was just a little girl,” Eddie tells ET before correcting himself. “Actually, I didn’t meet her. I was at a party of her mom’s, and she was one of the children running around.”

According to Tracee, that doesn’t qualify as a proper meeting. “I did not meet him, he remembers meeting me because he met Diana Ross’ kid. He doesn’t remember meeting Tracee, he remembers meeting Diana Ross’ kids,” she points out. “The thing that’s funny is, I don’t remember meeting Eddie!”

So the Black-ish alum clarifies that the pair’s first meeting was their first day on the Candy Cane Lane set. “I said, ‘Hello’ and he said, ‘Hello, Tracee Ellis Ross.’ And I said, ‘Are we doing full names? Hello, Eddie Murphy.’ And then we started acting and then we giggled and giggled and giggled.”

Considering the duo’s individual comedic chops, it’s no surprise that they were full of laughs on the film set! 

In Candy Cane Lane, Eddie stars as Chris Carver, a man on a mission to win his neighborhood’s annual Christmas home decoration contest. After Chris inadvertently makes a deal with a mischievous elf named Pepper (Jillian Bell) to better his chances of winning, she casts a magic spell that brings the 12 Days of Christmas to life and causes chaos in the whole town.

At the risk of ruining the holidays for his family, Chris, his wife, Carol (Tracee), and their three children must race against the clock to break Pepper’s spell, battle deviously magical characters, and save Christmas for everyone. Because the Carvers aren’t only trying to save the holiday, they’re also trying to save Chris’ life. If Pepper’s spell pans out the way she intends it to, the family patriarch will be turned into a figurine.

Thaddeus J. Mixson, Ken Marino, Nick Offerman, Robin Thede, Chris Redd, Genneya Walton, Madison Thomas, Anjelah Johnson-Reyes, Lombardo Boyar, DC Young Fly, Danielle Pinnock, Timothy Simons, Riki Lindhome and Stephen Tobolowsky also star in the holiday flick.

The film reunites Murphy with director Reginald Hudlin and producer Brian Grazer for the first time since 1992’s Boomerang, with a screenplay written by Kelly Younger, and inspired by his own holiday experiences on Candy Cane Lane in El Segundo, California.

Tracee has nothing but good things to share about working with the Boomerang star as onscreen spouses. “It was really fun, and it was great. It was great being married to Eddie,” she shares. “We talked a lot about music, and I don’t know if people know this, he’s such a film buff. But the best and most important thing to know about Eddie Murphy is he is hilarious but he’s such a generous actor. He’s not trying to be the funny person in the scene, he’s just in the scene with you, and you know a lot of stand-up [comedians] overdo it. [But] he’s just a great actor and a lovely person.”

DC Young Fly shared similar sentiments about working alongside the veteran actor when talking to ET at the premiere.

“Man, Eddie is one of those ones that you got to come to work, and you got to come like prepared to learn because you never know when he’s gonna drop a gem,” DC tells ET. “You never know when he’s gonna do something that you can take with you in your endeavors, you know what I mean? And this is like, this is somebody we’ve watched for years and years. It’s like, you know what, God done aligned our steps, now I’m a part of his legacy. So it’s like, what can I take from this? Take it seriously and look how long you can be in the game.”

Candy Cane Lane hits Prime Video on Dec. 1.

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