40 years after its initial release, the Beverly Hills Cop franchise is back with Eddie Murphy reprising the titular role for the new Netflix sequel, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.
The 1984 original made Murphy an international star, earned more than $230 million at the box office, and was the highest-grossing film in the U.S. that year.
It also introduced the world to Bronson Pinchot’s now-classic character Serge, a flamboyant art gallery assistant with a foreign accent that has trouble pronouncing Murphy’s character’s name.
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While only on-camera for less than two minutes, Serge became an instant fan-favorite character and the scene is one of the film’s most quoted.
Although Serge was absent from the 1987 sequel Beverly Hills Cop II, Pinchot (who went on to obtain even more fame for eight seasons as Balki in the ABC series Perfect Strangers) reprised the scene-stealing role in 1994’s Beverly Hills Cop III.
However, in the 10 years since the original, Serge had moved on from the art world to open up a pop-up weapons shop. Gays know how to work those transferable skills!
Despite the career-change, Serge still couldn’t pronounce Axel correctly.
Now on the eve of the release of the fourth film in the franchise, Pinchot has opened up about the problematic origins of Serge and how he worked to make him more than just a tired gay cliché.
In a new clip, the 65-year-old divulged how the character was originally not named Serge, supposed to be American, and devastatingly good-looking. After joking that the last part almost made him not audition for the role, Pinchot said producers told him they couldn’t figure how to make the character funny.
But right off the bat, Pinchot saw what was wrong with how Serge was written.
“He was a real garden variety, typical early ’80s gay character that only existed to be swatted like a fly,” the actor said in a video posted on TMZ. “He didn’t have any personality. He didn’t have anything at all to offer.”
Pinchot then but his twist on the character and got the support of director Martin Brest, who agreed that Serge and Murphy’s Axel Foley should connect and be friends.
That simple relationship was something Pinchot saw as groundbreaking for a gay character at the time.
“That was not the way it was at that point in American history, in world history and film history. You had these clichés as had been the case decades before for African American characters,” he added.
“But in those days, it was perfectly unremarkable to see a gay character in a script to literally be swatted out of the way … That was a turning point because I said ‘I think he would want to be friends and he would want to connect and be playful.'”
Pinchot concluded: “And maybe that’s also part of the soul of the first movie is, it’s unexpected and … it’s inclusive.”
Pinchot’s comments about Serge start at the 1:25 mark:
Back in 2019, Pinchot opened up on how he and Murphy improvised that now-classic scene in the 1984 original over and over until they nailed it.
“That scene in the movie lasted maybe about two minutes, but we shot it for two days and did at least 40 takes. Eddie and I just ran with it. We took it to the craziest places,” he told Forbes, before reiterating how Serge’s sexuality was initially supposed to be the butt of the jokes.
“The script was skewed towards the core character coming in, there’s an effete, gay character in Beverly Hills and he’s just made fun of. Through the good graces of Marty [Brest], we turned that relationship into something else, this kind of camaraderie, and people loved it.”
Fans can rest assured knowing Serge is back for the new sequel, but with one big change.
He’s now a blonde, but still living a fab life even if he still hasn’t mastered how to say Axel.
Meanwhile in real life, Pinchot has been undergoing a makeover himself.
Over the last year, the 65-year-old has been documenting his fitness journey and the results are inspiring.
Serge is a muscle daddy!
In addition to Murphy and Pinchot, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel X also stars Kevin Bacon, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Judge Reinhold, Paul Reiser, Taylour Paige and John Ashton.
Lil Nas X also provides the film’s theme song “Here We Go.”
Watch the trailer below and then start streaming Beverly Hills Cop: Axel X beginning July 3 on Netflix.
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Pietro D
BRONSON who?????????????????????????????
DennisMpls
Kids! smh