Jermaine Fowler was born to be in Coming 2 America

Jermaine Fowler doesn’t remember a world without Coming to America. The 32-year-old actor and comedian was born only one month before Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall became film royalty with the release of director John Landis’ 1988 comedy classic. Now, in the biggest role of his career, he’s being crowned the new prince of Zamunda in the long-awaited Coming 2 America.

“I always felt like Coming to America is a Black fairy tale, and we don’t get a lot of Black fairy tales,” says Fowler, best known for starring in Sorry to Bother You and the CBS sitcom Superior Donuts. “Eddie Murphy Raw was the reason I wanted to be a standup comedian, and then Eddie was the reason why I wanted to transition into acting. He’s been a huge inspiration for me. All of this is really surreal.”

While the original film found Akeem (Murphy) and Semmi (Hall) as the fish out of water in New York, director Craig Brewer’s film finds Fowler filling that position, starring as the Queens-born son Akeem never knew he had. “Lavelle didn’t have much growing up, sort of the type of guy who just made what he had work, and the things he had were very minimal,” says Fowler, who reveals that most of Coming 2 America takes place in Zamunda. “So when he finds out that he is the heir to a wealthy throne in Africa, this chip on his shoulder kind of just rolls right off and he’s ready to finally take it all in and enjoy the good life that he’s been denied for so long.”

Joining Lavelle in the embrace of his new and improved journey are his mother (Leslie Jones) and uncle (Tracy Morgan). “Leslie and Tracy are perfect together,” Fowler says of his SNL alum costars. “I wish they really were my aunt and uncle. It’s almost like we were related at some point. We probably have more takes on the cutting room floor than we have scenes that got printed, because we were just having too much fun.”