Eddie Murphy had his daughter Bella audition for Coming 2 America

She may be a princess of the great nation of Zamunda – but that doesn’t mean she gets special treatment.

Eddie Murphy has revealed that he insisted his daughter Bella audition for her role in “Coming 2 America”.

“She had to audition for Craig Brewer, who directed the film,” the 59-year-old told GMA on Thursday. “I wasn’t training my kid in the movie. She had to really be able to, you know, deliver. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have got the part.”

On screen, Bella is also Murphy’s daughter: Princess Omma to her Prince Akeem.

“I just wanted to be good,” Bella said of her first role. “I didn’t want people to look at him and say, ‘Oh, that must be his daughter because she can’t follow everyone.’ You know what I mean?”

“I really wanted to do my best,” she added. “And I’m really proud of how it turned out.”

The teenager remembers seeing the original film – released 14 years before she was even born – for the first time.

“I think when I first watched it I was really young,” she said. “And that was the first time I saw black royalty on screen. And on top of that, it was my dad. So it was already super impacting for me and very stimulating.

Eddie shares Bella – the seventh of ten children – with ex-wife Nicole Mitchell Murphy.

The sequel sees Prince Akeem return to America after finding out there is a son; his dying father, King Jaffe (James Earl Jones), insists that the boy be treated as heir to the throne, so he dismisses him once again with his loyal aide Semmi (Arsenio Hall).

Eddie told GMA he was actually happier the film was streaming at home, after the Covid pandemic sabotaged plans for a traditional theatrical release.

“It worked perfectly, because more people are going to see it, and I’m glad it turned out that way,” he said.

“Coming 2 America” premieres March 5 on Amazon Prime.