'Ghostbusters' was something of a passion project for Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. They loved their off-the-wall script, but were having a hard time persuading anybody else to take them seriously. Included in that 'anybody else' group was Eddie Murphy, who worked with Aykroyd in 'Trading Places' during the early 1980s. A hopeful Aykroyd pitched the film to Murphy, hoping to get him on board in the part of Winston Zedmore. He knew that having a star like Murphy attached to his script would generate interest among movie studios.
According to Aykroyd, Murphy's response was less-than-polite. He listened to Aykroyd describe the concept, and responded with the sentence 'That sounds like a crock of excrement.' We've substituted the word 'excrement' in for the word he actually used. Ernie Hudson got the part instead, 'Ghostbusters' went down in movie history, and Murphy made a series of increasingly dreadful 1990s comedies.
Chefs made their way into celebrity land a while ago. But how many celebrities that weren’t trained as professional cooks are actually whizzes in the kitchen? Here are several that come to mind.
Actress Julia Roberts is confident about her cooking skills. “I’m quite a good cook,” she told E! News. “I’m like a closet home ec teacher…I can really cook anything.” Roberts has said she often cooks fish for herself and her kids. And speaking of her three children, “They think that I’m a good cook,” Roberts told People. “They actually told me that I should open a restaurant.” She also relishes cooking for the holidays, particularly shredded Brussel sprouts. Roberts hasn’t published a cookbook, but we did find recipes attributed to her for peach crisp and banana hemp muffins. Or you can make the same summer salad the actress supposedly eats.
Chrissy Teigen started off as a supermodel. Then her love of cooking filtered into her professional life too. At this point, she’s created recipes for a limited Blue Apron release and also just launched her own home and cooking line at Target named “Cravings,” after the two cookbooks she’s released. Teigen describes cooking as “a time of peace” for herself. So maybe peace out to her tuna melt sandwich or the fried chicken wings that are a favorite of her husband, John Legend.
Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, comes from a cooking Italian family. Her father started his own restaurant in New York and also published a cookbook. And apparently, Lady Gaga has inherited the family’s cooking genes. Her Instagram account occasionally features photos of her culinary activities. Sure, sometimes it’s topless cooking. But other times it’s more poignant like in the post she shared about her bringing food to the family of her dear friend who passed away. Want to try a Gaga/Germanotta family favorite? Check out her recipe for whole wheat pasta with a sweet fennel sauce.