Eddie Murphy is finally ready to end his semi-retirement, after getting Oscar buzz for his latest role playing another legendary comic, Rudy Ray Moore, in Dolemite Is My Name — which is available to stream on Netflix on October 25. 

In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, the comic says that after receiving a Mark Twain Prize in 2015, the positive response was so great that he ended up sitting down and writing material for the first time in nearly a decade. That’s when he decided to get back on the stage and screen. 

“When you get that Mark Twain Prize, you get to meet the president, and I met Obama and the first thing out of his mouth was ‘When are you doing stand-up again?’ I was like, ‘Wow,’” he said. “Between that and the award, I was ready to get back.”

As far his own admiration for Rudy, “He f—ing believes in himself, and that’s why his stuff works,” he said, adding of the script, “I thought the whole idea of ‘You don’t have to be brilliant to get your s— off, you just have to believe in it’ was a universal and timeless story.”

“I’m still me,” he explained. “I know I’m still funny. When I first got up on the mic for Dolemite, there were a couple scenes with an audience and I was improvising and they were laughing and I had flickers of ‘Oh yeah, I remember that sound.’” 

Make no mistake. He’s fully aware that this movie could be his great comeback, and he’s not taking it lightly. He’s even working on sequels to his hits Coming to America and Beverly Hills Cop. 

“It’s great to be in a movie that works and that’s funny,” he said. “That’s the only reason why I’m making movies. I want to be in one that people like, and it’s been a long time since I’ve had one. [Dolemite] is a well-made movie and it’s f—ing funny — and that’s a good feeling.”

Welcome back, baby. Read more at EW!