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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Lisa Lisa—singer Lisa Velez—says she was offered the role of Lisa in Coming to America, then declined after her husband warned her that Eddie Murphy had a crush on her. That is Velez’s recollection, not a claim independently confirmed by Murphy or production records. The story resurfaced in a 2025 interview tied to her biopic, Can You Feel the Beat: The Lisa Lisa Story.
What Lisa Lisa said about Eddie Murphy and the movie role
In a PEOPLE interview published January 31, 2025, Velez recalled receiving the script and being offered the part of Lisa, the love interest in the 1988 comedy Coming to America. “I was offered the part of Lisa in Coming to America,” she said. She asked her then-husband whether she should accept. According to Velez, he advised her not to, saying he knew “about Eddie’s crush on me.” Read the PEOPLE interview reproduced by Yahoo News.
![Coming to America (Special Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61eoM8+mlHL._SL160_.jpg)
![Coming to America Double Feature: Coming to America [DVD, 1988] / Coming 2 America [Blu-ray, 2021] Starring Eddie Murphy (Coming to America 1 & 2) (2-Movie Set)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71g91MKWfRL._SL160_.jpg)
The account describes what Velez says her husband told her; it does not establish Murphy’s private feelings as an independently verified fact. Velez later said she viewed the role as a missed opportunity, while praising Shari Headley, who played Lisa in the released film.
Velez’s separate recollection of spending time with Murphy
In a New York Post interview published March 21, 2025, Velez offered a related but distinct memory: she said she and Murphy spent time together with Mike Tyson, and that Murphy wanted to test their chemistry for a romantic-comedy role. That recollection is also Velez’s account, not independent confirmation of the crush or the Coming to America offer. Read the New York Post interview.
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The biopic behind the 2025 interview
The interviews were connected to Can You Feel the Beat: The Lisa Lisa Story, which Lifetime had scheduled to premiere on February 1, 2025. That date is the announced premiere date; it does not establish where the film is currently available to watch.
Jearnest Corchado portrayed Velez as a young woman, while Velez played her own mother. Bre-Z portrayed her friend and manager Tony Ménage, and Angie Martinez also appeared in the film. The PEOPLE interview includes details about the film and its cast.
Why the story is part of Lisa Lisa’s larger story
Lisa Lisa is the stage name of Lisa Velez, the former frontwoman of Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam. The group’s song “Can You Feel the Beat,” recorded with Full Force, also connects to the biopic’s title: a January 25, 1986 Cash Box page lists the track and performers, without establishing a chart position. See the January 25, 1986 Cash Box page.
Velez said the year 2025 marked the 40th anniversary of “I Wonder If I Take You Home,” and that the milestone encouraged her to tell her full story. She described filming as therapeutic and emotionally challenging. These are her reflections on her reasons for making the film and on the experience itself. Her PEOPLE interview discusses the anniversary and filming.
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What Velez shared about her health
In the 2025 PEOPLE interview, Velez said she had kept a breast cancer diagnosis and treatment private while performing. She was quoted as saying, “I’m still cancer free.” That is her statement in that interview, not an independently verified update on her health today. Read the interview.
Quick Recap
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- Actors James Earl Jones, Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Madge Sinclair, Shari Headley & John Amos
- Director John Landis
- Certificate Restricted
- Year 1988
- Screen Widescreen 1.85:1
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