'Coming to America' Cast: Where Are They Now?

Eddie Murphy as Prince Akeem Joffer

Eddie Murphy began his career as a stand-up comedian and cast member on Saturday Night Live. Then, in 1988, he took on the star-turning role of the crown prince of the fictional Zamunda in Coming to America, along with other characters, including Sexual Chocolate singer Randy Watson, barber Clarence and Jewish barbershop customer Saul.

Murphy continued to remain a fixture on the big screen throughout the '90s. He starred in Boomerang (1992), Vampire in Brooklyn (1995), Metro (1997), Holy Man (1998), Life (1999) and Bowfinger (1999). He was cast as lead in The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002), I Spy (2002), Daddy Day Care (2003), Norbit (2007), Meet Dave (2008), Imagine That (2009), Tower Heist (2011), A Thousand Words (2012), Mr. Church (2016), Dolemite Is My Name (2019) and You People (2023).

In addition to Murphy reprising his roles in the Beverly Hills Cop, Nutty Professor, Dr. Dolittle and Shrek film series, he returned as Akeem in the Coming 2 America sequel, which premiered on Amazon Prime Video in March 2021.

Beyond TV and film, the Emmy-winning actor has released three albums. His debut 1985 album, How Could It Be, included the lead single "Party All the Time." He followed it up with 1989's So Happy and 1993's Love's Alright.

In 2007, Murphy won a Golden Globe for his performance as James "Thunder" Early in the 2006 film adaptation of Dreamgirls. That same year, he received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Murphy is engaged to fiancée and Australian model Paige Butcher, with whom he shares two children: Izzy Oona and Max Charles. Murphy and Butcher have been together since 2012. He was previously married to Nicole Murphy for 12 years and had a symbolic union with Tracey Edmonds.

Throughout Murphy's relationship history, he has fathered 10 children, including Izzy and Max. Murphy referred to his kids as "amazing" when honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 2023 Golden Globes in January.

Arsenio Hall as Semmi

As Semmi, Arsenio Hall played the sidekick to Murphy's Prince Akeem, accompanying him on his journey to America to find a princess. Like Murphy, Hall also portrayed multiple characters in the film, most notably elderly barber Morris, Reverend Brown and an unattractive woman during the club scene.

Following the original Coming to America, Hall appeared alongside Murphy again in 1989's Harlem Nights. However, he's most known for hosting the late-night talk show The Arsenio Hall Show from 1989 to 1994, earning two Emmy nominations.

From there, Hall starred on the short-lived ABC sitcom Arsenio in 1997 and the CBS series Martial Law. He also hosted Star Search and regularly appeared on The Jay Leno Show, Lopez Tonight and Access Hollywood Live. Hall won The Celebrity Apprentice 5 in 2012 before he revived The Arsenio Hall Show, which aired from 2013 to 2014.

His film credits include Blankman (1994), Black Dynamite (2009) and, of course, Coming 2 America (2021).

In 2016, he sued Sinead O'Connor for $5 million over claims Hall was Prince's drug dealer. The lawsuit was dropped after O'Connor apologized.

Hall has one son from his previous relationship with Cheryl Bonacci.

Shari Headley as Lisa McDowell

Shari Headley played Prince Akeem's love interest and heiress of McDowell's in her debut feature film role.

She would go on to appear in a few films, including The Preacher's Wife (1996), Johnson Family Vacation (2004) and Towelhead (2007), as well as on soap operas such as All My Children, The Guiding Light, The Bold and the Beautiful.

Headley also had a recurring role on 413 Hope St., The Haves and Have Nots and On Becoming a God in Central Florida in 2019 before reprising her role as Lisa in 2021's Coming 2 America.

She has a son from her previous two-year marriage to Christopher Martin, the actor and rapper "Play" of House Party fame and the hip-hop duo Kid 'n Play.

James Earl Jones as King Jaffe Joffer

James Earl Jones already had three Star Wars films under his belt when he joined the cast of Coming to America, showing his comedic side as Prince Akeem's disapproving dad.

The prolific actor went on to appear in movies such as Field of Dreams (1989), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Scorchers (1991), Patriot Games (1992), The Sandlot (1993) and Clear and Present Danger (1994). In 1994, he notably voiced Mufasa in the Disney animated film The Lion King, a role he reprised in the 2019 live-action remake.

Additional film credits include Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (2008), Gimme Shelter (2013), The Angriest Man in Brooklyn (2014) and Coming 2 America (2021). Jones voiced Darth Vader for 40 years before stepping down from the role in September 2022. Though it was reported that Jones would return to voice the iconic villain on the Disney+ limited series Obi-Wan Kenobi, it was actually AI-generated, according to Vanity Fair.

Jones is technically an EGOT winner — having won two Emmys, two Tonys, a Grammy and an honorary Academy Award — but has never won an Oscar in a competitive category.

Jones had a son with wife Cecilia Hart, who died in 2016 from ovarian cancer.

Eriq La Salle as Darryl Jenks

Classically trained Eriq La Salle played Headley's egotistical boyfriend before finding fame — and garnering a Golden Globe nomination and Emmy nods — as Dr. Peter Benton on ER.

La Salle appeared in One Hour Photo (2002), Johnny Was (2006) and Logan (2017) and had guest spots on TV shows such as 24, Covert Affairs, A Gifted Man and Under the Dome.

He also reunited with his former ER costar Gloria Reuben in the 2022 Hallmark movie A Second Chance at Love.

In addition to acting, La Salle has had a successful career behind the camera. He directed the 1996 HBO film Rebound: The Legend of Earl "The Goat" Manigault, as well as episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, CSI: Cyber, Chicago P.D. and First Kill.

John Amos as Cleo McDowell

Good Times actor John Amos played Lisa's father and the owner of McDowell's, Cleo McDowell, a role he reprised for Coming 2 America.

Amos has been featured in additional films such as Lock Up (1989), Die Hard 2 (1990), For Better or Worse (1995), The Players Club (1998), Dr. Dolittle 3 (2006), Madea's Witness Protection (2012) and Me Time (2022).

On TV, he has appeared on In the House, The District, The West Wing, The District, Men in Trees, Two and a Half Men and The Righteous Gemstones.

Louie Anderson as Maurice

Louie Anderson played Semmi and Akeem's co-worker Maurice, an aspiring assistant manager at McDowell's. He later reprised the role in the 2021 sequel.

Since his appearance in Coming to America, Anderson created and starred on the short-lived The Louie Show in 1996 and on all five seasons of the Emmy-winning animated series Life with Louie. He also hosted Family Feud from 1999 to 2002 and had guest spots on shows, including Ally McBeal, Grace Under Fire, Scrubs and Young Sheldon.

In 2016, Anderson won an Emmy for his performance as Christine Baskets on Baskets. He was nominated again in 2017 and 2018 for the FX series, which he starred on from 2016 to 2019.

His final TV appearances before his death in January 2022 were on TBS' Search Party in 2020 and BET's Twenties in 2021. Anderson died of complications from cancer at the age of 68.

Samuel L. Jackson as Hold-Up Man

Samuel L. Jackson had a brief yet memorable turn in Coming to America when he attempted to rob fast-food joint McDowell's before being thwarted by Murphy and Hall's characters.

Jackson followed the film's success with appearances in Do the Right Thing (1989), Mo' Better Blues (1990), Goodfellas (1990), Juice (1992), Patriot Games (1992), Menace II Society (1993), Jurassic Park (1993) and True Romance (1993) before his Oscar-nominated role as Jules Winnfield in Quentin Tarantino's 1994 classic film Pulp Fiction.

He continued working with Tarantino in Jackie Brown (1997), Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004), Django Unchained (2012) and The Hateful Eight (2015) while also packing his resume with notable roles in A Time to Kill (1996), Eve's Bayou (1997), The Negotiator (1997), Deep Blue Sea (1999), Shaft (2000), Unbreakable (2000), S.W.A.T. (2003), Coach Carter (2005), Black Snake Moan (2006) and the Star Wars prequels.

In the latter half of the 2000s, Jackson was featured in Unthinkable (2010), Reasonable Doubt (2014), Big Game (2014), Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014), Cell (2016), Kong: Skull Island (2017), The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017), Glass (2019) and Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019).

The actor first appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in a post-credit scene of 2008's Iron Man and has since become a mainstay as Nick Fury in The Avengers movies. He will headline a Marvel storyline for the first time in June 2023 on the Disney+ series Secret Invasion. Jackson has also lent his voice to animated films, including The Incredibles (2004) and Incredibles 2 (2018).

He starred in the Broadway revival of August Wilson's The Piano Lesson in 2022, a role he originally played early in his career at Yale Repertory Theatre.

Though the actor never formally won an Oscar, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Jackson with an Honorary Award in 2022.

Jackson has been married to actress LaTanya Richardson since 1980. The two share one daughter, Zoe.

Garcelle Beauvais as Rose Bearer

Garcelle Beauvais portrayed a royal rose bearer, dishing out flower petals for Prince Akeem to walk on in the first Coming to America. She returned for the 2021 sequel, only this time her character, according to Beauvais, was "upgraded" from rose bearer to a rose bearer priestess. In March 2021, the actress jokingly told the Chicago Tribune, "I guess she got a promotion."

After the release of the original, the Haitian-American actress appeared on Models Inc., The Jamie Foxx Show, NYPD Blue, Franklin & Bash, Grimm Siren and Tell Me a Story. Beauvais was featured in the films White House Down (2013) and Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and starred in the Lifetime original movies Caught in His Web (2022) and Black Girl Missing (2023).

Beauvais has been a cast member on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills since 2020 and served as co-host of the now-canceled talk show The Real. She released her memoir, Love Me As I Am, in April 2022, and three children's books celebrating diversity and addressing identity issues.

She is a mother of three sons. Beauvais shares her eldest, Oliver, with producer and ex-husband Daniel Saunders, whom she divorced in 2000. She also has fraternal twin boys, Jax Joseph and Jaid Thomas, from her former marriage to CAA agent Michael Nilon; the two divorced in 2011 after Beauvais discovered Nilon was having an affair.