Eddie Murphy thinks he's "transcended" racism in the movie industry

He explained: "In terms of my work and my career, race has never been an issue.

"I’ve been making movies for 40 years and never once could I not get a movie made because I was black. I transcended that stuff.

"But that’s not to say I walked out of heaven and into Hollywood. I’m a black man who was born in America; I’m African-American.

"Growing up in this country, there’s no way you’re not going to have to face some s***."

Eddie concedes that the film business is still "run" by white men and that Hollywood needs to become more inclusive.

He told Radio Times: "It’s been this way for years and years, but it’s not just African-Americans; it’s also about women and other minorities, too.

"White men run this business. It’s always been this way."

Eddie also claimed that comedy is "going through a period of political correctness" at the moment.

But ultimately, the actor conceded that "funny is still funny".

Speaking about the comedy landscape, Eddie explained: "Times change and tastes change, but funny is still funny.

"Right now, we’re going through a period of political correctness and people are a little more uptight about comedy - but there’s no expiration date on funny."

Eddie recently revealed he wanted to "remind" people he's still funny before returning to stand-up comedy.

The film star is widely regarded as one of the greatest stand-up comedians of all time, but Eddie thought he needed to embark on some other projects before he returned to touring.

Eddie explained: "When I got up off the couch and did this little patch of work, it was, let’s do 'Dolemite'. Let’s do 'Saturday Night Live'. Let’s do 'Coming 2 America'. Because I want to go do stand-up again, but I don’t want to just pop up out there when people hadn’t seen me be really funny in a while."