Coming to America/Trivia


 * Acting For Three: Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall.
 * Actor Allusion:
 * As King Jaffe Joffer, James Earl Jones tells Cleo McDowell "Do not alert him [Akeem] to my presence. I will deal with him myself.", referencing two different lines as Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
 * Also, cameos by Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche as the Duke Brothers, who Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd sent to the poorhouse in Trading Places. This film is also the source of a later allusion: Samuel L. Jackson played an armed robber holding up a cheap diner in this movie, and several years later would foil a pair of armed robbers holding up a cheap diner.
 * Dawson Casting: The movie opens on Prince Akeem's 21st birthday. Eddie Murphy, who played the prince, does not look 21, which makes sense considering he was 37 at the time.
 * Hey, It's That Guy!:
 * Donkey is the Prince Akeem, Darth Vader is his Dad the king and late-night talkshow host Arsenio Hall his sidekick. Plus, Samuel L. Jackson plays an armed robber who holds up the restaurant Akeem is working at.
 * And said restaurant is owned by Kunta Kinte.
 * Cuba Gooding, Jr. plays a guy getting his hair cut.
 * James Earl Jones, who would go on to voice Mufasa in The Lion King, arrives in New York wearing a lion skin.
 * And the queen, played by Madge Sinclair, would also be Sarabi, Mufasa's queen.
 * Louie is Akeem's co-worker.
 * Dr. Peter Benton is Lisa's starter boyfriend.
 * Talking to Himself: Hall and Murphy play three of the four characters in the barbershop; one of whom is an Alter Kocker.
 * Technology Marches On: If mobile phones were more widespread at the time, Semmi might have texted Akeem that his parents, the King and Queen, are in New York, and he's gone with them to the Waldorf Astoria.