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ESSENCE Magazine has put the stars of the highly anticipated ‘Coming 2 America’ sequel on the cover of their March/April issue.

Coming 2 America stars cover ESSENCE Magazine's March/April issue

Source: Alexis Hunley, Paige Butcher with direction from Kwaku Alston / Courtesy ESSENCE

The magazine just released the reveal of their triple covers, which feature Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Jermaine Fowler, KiKi Layne and Bella Murphy. For the issue Regina R. Robertson talks to the cast about why this was the right time to do the sequel, their fave moments and what the film means to the culture, check out excerpts below:

EDDIE MURPHY ON WHAT THE FILM MEANS TO THE CULTURE:

“Coming to America is one of my films that has really worked its way into the culture. People get dressed up as the characters for Halloween, and they still walk around saying catchphrases like ‘Sexual Chocolate.’ So many people grew up with Coming to America and have a lot invested in it, so I didn’t want to taint that…Once the ideas started coming together, it took about four or five years to get the script all the way right. Once we got it right, I knew it was time…”

ARSENIO HALL ON DOING THE SEQUEL:

“A lot of people have posted about Coming to America and said things like, ‘Please don’t mess with my movie’ or ‘I don’t want no sequel!’ We’ve been pitched all kinds of ideas, but I remember reading the script in Eddie’s backyard and it was all making sense. That’s when I knew that this was going to be the sequel…”

Coming 2 America stars cover ESSENCE Magazine's March/April issue

Source: Alexis Hunley / Courtesy ESSENCE

KIKI LAYNE ON PLAYING MEEKA:

“Meeka is loyal to her family. I’m interested in showcasing strong Black women— and being a part of this film was an opportunity to play in such a classic world and also to work with straight-up legends, all the way around…”

BELLA MURPHY ON PLAYING OMMA AND WORKING WITH HER DAD:

“Omma is super-smart, a little bit of a badass, and she’s super-cool. Being able to do my first film with my dad is really special…I’m over the moon…”

Coming 2 America stars cover ESSENCE Magazine's March/April issue

Source: PHOTOGRAPHED BY PAIGE BUTCHER, WITH ART DIRECTION FROM KWAKU ALSTON. / Courtesy ESSENCE

JERMAINE ON PLAYING LAVELLE—AND WATCHING HIS DREAM COME TRUE:

“In some ways, Lavelle reminds me a lot of myself when I was growing up and trying to figure out life. As a fan of the original film, I was honored to be a part of this whole world—but when they told me how Lavelle becomes part of the story, I just laughed my a** off and thought, All right, let’s do it…”

SHARI HEADLEY ON WHAT AUDIENCES WILL LOVE:

“I’m as excited as the audience and have no doubt that this will be a film that people will love. I’ll venture to say they’ll love it even more than the first one…”

WESLEY SNIPES ON JOINING THE FILM:

“I was like, ‘Whatever the role is, I want to be in it.’ Later, I was told that I was going to be a General—but really, I could have played a zebra and been just fine…”

Listen — we had a chance to screen the film early and Wesley Snipes was one of our favorite characters, don’t believe him when you say he’d have been happy playing a zebra! He kills his role as General Izzi.

For more on this issue, visit ESSENCE.com or pick up the March/April issue on newsstands next week.

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