Eddie Murphy Never Tells Jokes in His Drawers

Eddie Murphy sat down with ET to talk about A Thousand Words, his upcoming film about a man who is forced to limit his words, and revealed what makes him limit his words and be serious.

"I never tell jokes when I'm in my drawers," Murphy said. "I get very serious when it's just drawers on...When I'm in my drawers you wouldn't even know I was a comedian…You'd be like, 'Is this guy a poet or something?'"

Murphy approached the difficulty of playing a role for which he primarily does not speak as an appealing task for him.

5 Things You Don't Know About Eddie Murphy

"The challenge of having to be funny without talking [appealed to me]," Murphy stated. "Having to tell the story without talking—I thought that would be something I hadn't done."

The 50-year-old actor and comedian also recounted his big break into show business, recalling a SNL stint that he did when he was 18 years old.

Check out the full interview above to hear Murphy describe what it was like for him to work half-naked with Kerry Washington.

Ricky Gervais Takes a Shot at Eddie Murphy at Golden Globes

A Thousand Words comes to theaters Friday, March 9.