Donald Faison Talks Loving Girlfriend Cacee Cobb and His Love of Eddie Murphy
So you’re dating Cacee Cobb, and her best friend Jessica Simpson just announced her engagement this week. Do you think will you and Cacee be headed down the aisle anytime soon?
My girlfriend Cacee and I and we’ve been together for five years. You never know about whether or not engagement or marriage is in the future. We have a really awesome relationship right now. I’m not saying I don’t want to marry her, I’m sure I know in my heart I love her and I definitely want to be with her forever but sometimes you throw marriage in a situation and it ruins everything. And we got a really good thing and I really don’t want to ruin it. She feels the same way too, so I don’t people out there thinking, ‘Oh he ain’t ready to settle down.’ And in all honesty I already feel like I’ve settled down I don’t want to be with anybody else but her. And I know she'll be happy I said that too.
Which films and which comedic actor have most influential to your career?
Anything with Eddie Murphy in it like Trading Places, Boomerang or Beverly Hills Cop. That’s the well; anything with Eddie Murphy is the well. You can see it in most black actors that have any kind of comedy in them. A lot of them get their inspiration from the young Eddie Murphy. He was Raw. He was comedian who was funny and raw and he was very charming too.
Why do you think Eddie Murphy was so special for young black actors and comedians?
Eddie wasn’t afraid to put other comedians in his movies with him. Martin Lawrence and David Alan Grier in Boomerang, Chris Rock in Beverly Hills Cop II, and there's plenty more. Eddie paved the way; there wouldn’t be a Will Smith if there weren’t an Eddie Murphy. Eddie was kind of the first African American action star. Before him there really wasn’t anyone modern day. After Beverly Hills Cop he could pretty much write his own ticket in this industry. Not with just African Americans with everything. In my opinion, you can watch any comedian or any comical actor on TV or in the movies and you will see some form of Eddie Murphy in their personality. He has put that much of a stamp on American cinema.
Don’t you feel like there are two Eddie Murphys; the young leather clad Raw one and the older gentler family friendly one. We’re about the same age (late 30s) I don’t think the younger generation sees him the way we do.
Absolutely. I think the new generation sees him as Donkey (in Shrek) he did a good job as Donkey but I don’t think that’s his best accomplishment. Don’t get it twisted, I love donkey. But these younger comedians coming up may be emulating Chris Rock or Chris Tucker but before that Eddie was the guy these guys were doing. So these new guys are doing a second-generation version of what Eddie did.
