Tyler James Williams has been a lifelong Eddie Murphy fan, but he hadn’t realized until recently that the comedy superstar is in his corner as well.

Williams, who stars on ABC’s Abbott Elementary, appeared on NBC’s The Tonight Show on Friday, where he told host Jimmy Fallon that he and Murphy were asked to pose together for a photo on the Golden Globes red carpet last month. However, the interaction was rather low-key, as Williams recalled that Murphy didn’t say a word to him but simply gave a thumbs-up.

Fallon went on to ask about the fact that Murphy was seen on camera standing up and applauding when Williams won his award later that evening.

“Lights are really bright, so I can’t really see anything, and I don’t know how people talk through that award wrap-it-up thing because it starts blinking immediately,” Williams recalled of taking the stage to accept his prize. “So I’m just trying to get off of stage as fast as I can, and it wasn’t until I got back to my seat that there was a bunch of text messages of people saying, ‘Eddie stood for you.’ And I was like, ‘What doest that mean?’ And then they sent me the photo, and I’m still trying to process this.”

At that point in the conversation, Fallon held up an image of Murphy giving the standing ovation. Williams continued, “So I spent the next three or four days after the Globes trying to get in contact with Eddie Murphy to say, ‘I didn’t see you — I’m so sorry. But you mean the world to me.’ So I’m just now processing the Globe because I spent so much time trying to process that.”

Fallon then said that Murphy is known to watch The Tonight Show, leading Williams to look into the camera and thank the Beverly Hills Cop star for the gesture.