Key Points
-
Noah Wyle says he had a disappointing encounter with Eddie Murphy when he was 9.
-
Murphy was part of the cast of Saturday Night Live at the time.
-
Wyle’s daughter recently faked Murphy’s signature so that he could finally have his autograph.
If you have Noah Wyle’s autograph, it might be thanks to Eddie Murphy.
The Pitt star recalled on a recent episode of Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast that he had once been the one wanting a celebrity, the beloved Saturday Night Live cast member Murphy, to give him his John Hancock. And he didn’t get the response he wanted.
“I met Eddie once when I was a kid. I asked him for his autograph, and I said, ‘I really like you on SNL,'” Wyle said. “And he goes, ‘What are you doing up that late?'”
In Wyle’s memory, he had just laughed nervously at that. Then he tried again.
“And I said, ‘Can I have your autograph?’ He goes, ‘F— off, man,'” Wyle recalled.
The ER alum said that, because of that moment, “I always sign an autograph. Whenever a 9-year-old needs an autograph from me, I sign that so fast.”
The story also led to him obtaining an autograph that isn’t actually from Murphy, but it’s even better to Wyle.
“So, I’ve told this story in my house and last year for my birthday, my daughter didn’t know what to get me,” explained the father of kids Owen, 23, and Auden, 21, whose mother is Wyle’s ex Tracy Warbin, and his daughter with wife Sarah Wyle, Frances, who turned 11 in June.
“My 10-year-old daughter printed up a picture of Eddie Murphy and then wrote on it, ‘Dear Noah, you’re a great kid, Eddie Murphy.’ And she spelled Eddie E-d–d-y,” Wyle said. “And I have it framed in my office. It’s the greatest gift that my 10-year-old thought, ‘You know what?’ And then she came up with the story. She’s like, ‘Dad, you’re never going to believe who mom and I saw yesterday. Eddie Murphy. And we got what you’ve always wanted, his autograph.’
Entertainment Weekly has reached out to a rep for Murphy.
Noah Wyle with his family on April 9, 2026
Credit: JC Olivera/Getty
In fairness to the Coming to America star, he’s only 10 years older than Wyle, so he would’ve been a teenager or early twentysomething grappling with fame during the encounter. He was on Saturday Night Live as his film career began, as well, starring in films such as 48 Hrs. and Trading Places.
“Just imagine being a young person and having the world placed at your feet,” the comedian said of the period on the New York Times‘ podcast The Interview. “Nobody’s saying ‘no,’ and everybody wants to be around you. You try all types of s— and get caught up in all kinds of stuff.”
Wyle doesn’t appear to be holding any grudges, though. He and Poehler, who’s also an SNL alum, couldn’t stop laughing.
Watch the full conversation above.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
