Eddie Murphy opened up about his lifelong experience with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in the new documentary Being Eddie, now streaming on Netflix. In candid remarks, Murphy revealed how his compulsive behaviors began early and how he eventually recognized them as symptoms of a mental illness.
Murphy, 64, said he first began engaging in obsessive checking when he was a child. “I would go and check the stove in the kitchen and make sure all the gas was off in the kitchen,” he said in the film.
He described nights when, after going to bed, he would leave and return repeatedly, checking the stove over the course of about an hour each time—sometimes saying to himself, “That’s just some weird s— that I do.”
Murphy said no one in his family knew what was happening at the time.
Eddie Murphy Coming to a Realization
His awareness shifted when one day he watched a news segment on OCD. “It was like, ‘Oh, that’s what I — I be doing s**t like that,’” he recalled. He admitted he initially resisted the notion of mental illness. “I thought I was weird. I ain’t know I had some mental illness. F**k that. I ain’t have no mental illness,” Murphy said in the documentary. “And I forced myself to stop doing it,” he added.
Despite his efforts, Murphy acknowledged the behavior persists. “I check the gas every night, still. But every now and then, I’ll check it twice, and say ‘No, motherf**ker, you ain’t starting that s**t again. Take your ass to bed,’” he said with a laugh.
The documentary also links Murphy’s sharp comedic instincts with his long-standing focus on details and patterns. “Sense of humor is ultimately an acute sense of proportion,” Murphy said. “The funny person notices stuff first.” He suggested his early compulsive habits may have fed into his comedic style.
Mental health experts say that OCD features recurrent unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors (compulsions) that interfere with daily life. Murphy’s story underscores that even high-profile individuals can live with such conditions.
In Being Eddie, Murphy gives viewers a deeper look into both the challenges behind his public persona and how he still navigates them today. “Through the documentary, people get a better understanding of how I got here,” he said. “A young person might think I just walked out of heaven into Hollywood, but that’s not quite how it happened.” He said his greatest blessing is self-love, which he credits with helping keep him grounded.