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Lisa Lisa, the ’80s music icon, recently portrayed her own mother in her Lifetime biopic Can You Feel the Beat: The Lisa Lisa Story. However, she nearly had a major Hollywood moment as Eddie Murphy’s love interest, Lisa McDowell, in Coming to America (1988). She was offered the role after chemistry testing with Murphy but turned it down due to her then-husband’s disapproval, a decision she now questions.
“We were hanging out, Eddie and I, back in the day with Mike Tyson. I remember when he wanted to do a rom-comer, he wanted to test it out [to see if there was any chemistry].”
“Later on I was sent a script, and they offered me that part, which was amazing,” she said of the role of Queens, New York resident Lisa McDowell, who is courted by Murphy’s Prince Akeem from the fictional African country of Zamunda in the beloved romantic comedy.
“I was young and stupid,” she said. “I thought I was doing the right thing, you know, being a good wife. But I’ve asked myself [why], like, 100 times.”
The biopic delves into her mother’s struggles with domestic violence and Lisa Lisa’s own hidden battle with breast cancer, which she kept secret while touring with Cult Jam. Despite the emotional challenges of reliving her past, she found the experience therapeutic and a tribute to her mother’s sacrifices for their family.
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