LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Amidst several allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior, Bill Murray has at least one supporter who thinks him to be “part” of his family. The ‘Zombieland’ actor’s long-time collaborator, director Wes Anderson recently spoke in an interview regarding how close the duo is while stressing the fact that Murray’s conspicuous absence from his latest venture, ‘Asteroid City’ has nothing to do with the allegations.
In an interview with IndieWire, Anderson elaborated, "My experience with Bill is so extensive," before adding, "Bill was such a great supporter of me from the very beginning.” He remarked that, while he didn’t want to talk about anyone else, he has a special connection with the 72-year-old actor. Anderson revealed, “I don't want to speak about somebody else's experience, but he's really part of my family. You know, he's my daughter's godfather. In fact, he actually baptized her. He's the one who splashed the water."
Bill Murray and Wes Anderson's collaboration
Murray is not only one of Anderson's most frequent collaborators, but he also helped in launching Anderson’s career by starring in his ‘Rushmore’. He starred in nine out of 12 ventures of Anderson. Murray also appeared as the eponymous character in the film ‘The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou’. He also appeared in the films like ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’, ‘The Darjeeling Limited’ and ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’. He last appeared in Anderson’s 2021 release ‘The French Dispatch’. He was also slated to appear in ‘Asteroid City’ as well.
Why did Bill Murray drop out of ‘Asteroid City’?
Anderson addressed this question as well in the interview. Highlighting the fact that the accusations played no part in Murray's departure from the film, he explained, “There was some confusion about what happened with Bill,” before adding, “He was supposed to play the motel manager who Steve Carell plays, and Bill got COVID four days before he was supposed to start shooting. He was in Ireland and in the case of our movie, we had schedules of so many people that are all puzzled around. The people who Bill was supposed to play scenes with were going to be gone by the time he cleared the COVID protocols and stuff. And in fact, he was quite sick. So Bill missed his part and Steve Carell came in quite suddenly. He was great, I loved having him. I met him, he arrived, and we were immediately shooting.”
Even though Murray did not star in the film, it did not stop him from visiting Anderson on the set, as the director recalled, “Then when Bill got better, he came to Spain. At the end of the movie [where ‘Asteroid’ shot], we finished the movie, and Bill and I got in a car and drove to France. It was a great way to finish but it was the first time I hadn’t had him in a movie in a long time.”
What were the charges against Bill Murray?
Entertainment Weekly, reported from Puck that Murray allegedly straddled and kissed a young female staff member while being masked because of COVID-19. The “horrified” woman subsequently filed a complaint against him. Seth Green also accused him of dropping on him a trash can on the sets of ‘Saturday Night Live’ when he was just 9.
As reported by Variety, fellow actor Geena Davis accused Murray of harassing her during the filming of their 1990 movie ‘Quick Change’ by trying to engage her in using a massage device in her hotel room. Murray was further accused of making “unacceptable” and “inexcusable” insults to Lucy Liu on the set of “Charlie’s Angels,” which she revealed during a Los Angeles Times’ 'Asian Enough' podcast.
'It’s been quite an education for me'
Murray tried to explain his stand during an interview with CNBC, where he recounted, “I had a difference of opinion with a woman I’m working with. I did something I thought was funny and it wasn’t taken that way.” The ‘Ghostbusters’ star hypothesized and apparently supported the movie studio’s decision of stalling the production saying, “The movie studio wanted to do the right thing, so they wanted to check it all out and investigate it and so they stopped the production.” Aziz Ansari's directorial is yet to start shooting.
Talking about the person he has offended, Murray continued, “As of now we’re talking and we’re trying to make peace with each other,” before adding, “We’re both professionals. We like each other’s work — we like each other, I think.” The ‘Lost in Translation’ star concluded the segment by speaking about his takeaway from the incident, “If we can’t get along and trust each other, there’s no point in going further working together or making a movie… It’s been quite an education for me.”
