'12
The elusive, indomitable Bill Murray covers the January issue of GQ, and how excited am I? Very excited. In my warped little mind, Murray is a demigod among men. I’d do anything to shoot the sh-t with him, and I have a hunch that it would be an even better experience over a few shots of tequila. Call me, Bill. I’ll wear a pink wig, and we can start our own (perfectly awful) jazz band together. I promise, it won’t be creepy at all.
At the moment, Bill is promoting his role as President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Hyde Park on Hudson. So far, the reviews are … not good, but Bill’s performance has been praised, and it seems like a case of a bad script that is lacking its treatment of the subject matter. So basically, Bill is still awesome, and he talks to GQ about how he handles comedy, what he wants to do in the future (he might even ditch his infamous 800 number and pick up an actual manager, but I doubt that’ll happen), and how he got all wrapped up in his Oscar run for Lost in Translation. Here are some excerpts:
On successful comedy: “It’s not so much what you do, but the way in which you do it. I can slap you on the back and it can be a wonderful thing, if it’s done with joy. But if I slap you on the back just as you’re coming out of the elevator, and I’ve had too much to drink, it’s a completely different thing.”
On today’s comedies: “I think there’s something that I can bring to a comedy today, but I don’t know where to bring it. I’ve actually thought about having a manager again. Just to clear my head and have a plan. ….Eh, it’s not that attractive to have a plan. I know that if I ever feel that I need to make afunny movie, I’ll figure out how to write one. I’ll get it done. If I ever get some ambition, I’m gonna get some sh-t done.”
He wanted the Oscar for Lost in Translation: “The one time I got a bunch of prizes, I just assumed I’d win them all. Because I’d been winning them all. …I really saw something in myself and I thought, ‘Oh, my God. I really did want that thing!’ Some part of me was disappointed that I got tricked into thinking it was important. I told myself, if that happens again, I don’t want to do that. I’ve since realized that it was good I didn’t win, because I wasn’t ready. Guys go for five years without working because they’re thinking, ‘Oh, this isn’t Oscar-worthy.’ They become paralyzed. So. It would have fed that thing that I found in myself, without my even knowing. It would have been really malformed. Because I had it wrong.”
Is Hyde Park On Hudson Oscar-worthy? “They look at this film as an award-winning film, and that road is paved with glass and razor wire, as far as I’m concerned.”
[From GQ]
I left out the part of the interview where Bill’s friend, Mitch Glazer, discusses how Bill prank calls him every time Roadhouse is on television because Patrick Swayze does the nasty with Mitch’s wife in that movie (“Oh… He’s pushing her up against the wall“). That portion of the discussion is slightly explicit but still rather hilarious.
On the topic of the Oscars, I actually do feel for Bill for being disappointed in his loss for Best Male Actor. He’s never been a famewhore, so he wasn’t mentally chasing the Academy for a reason. It’s more of a case of Bill really wanting to make his way as a dramatic actor (and he was fantastic in Lost in Translation and the underrated Broken Flowers but admittedly dreadful in The Razor’s Edge) instead of just being a funny guy. I think that, eventually, Bill will be more formally recognized for his efforts in his less frenetic endeavors. But even when people realize that Bill can successfully be less than serious, it’s always a case of “no one will ever believe you.”
Photos courtesy of GQ
Written by Bedhead
Posted in Bill Murray
- The Blemish interviews Carmen Electra [The Blemish]
- Rumer Willis joins Pretty Little Liars [Lainey Gossip]
- Morgan Freeman falls asleep during interview [D-Listed]
- Fug or fab: Isla Fisher [Go Fug Yourself]
- Tamra Barney confirms spinoff [Reality Tea]
- Movie franchises that rebounded [Pajiba]
- Why Dylan McKay is the perfect boyfriend [Buzzfeed]
- Saoirse Ronan could have been a Lohan [Evil Beet]
- GIFs from Cannes [Popsugar]
- Cat massages a dog [CDAN]
- Heather Graham is so pretty [Celebslam]
- What is Lucy Hale wearing? [Moe Jackson]
I love Bill Murray, that’s it..
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Ditto.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Me toO. I’ve been a fan since I can remember what being a fan meant.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Gah! Bill Murray is one of the few celebrities that I get fangirl over.
I just want him to be my friend
Great interview. Always appreciate his humor and honesty.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Yes! I want to meet him in a dark hotel bar (just like Scarlett) and sit there and drink with him all night.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Maybe me and my good friend Steve (Martin) can meet you guys for that drink? Let’s hope the martinis are as dry as the humor.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Jane, so correct! Sexy to me is a man who is funny and extremely smart. Not looks, not money (well, maybe money). Someone said “Looks fade, but dumb is forever”.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Let’s go! I’ll meet you at the nearest hotel bar. I’m officially off work until 2013 (have to use up my vacation days) and I’m about to enjoy a dirty martini right now. Yeah!!!!
Report this comment as spam or abuse
I have a dream of arranging it so that Bill Murray and my husband could go play a round of golf together. I think Mr RN would squeal and cry with happiness. Bill Murray is in both of our “celebs who would be cool to meet” lists.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Love him!! Just a really cool guy.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Love him. I want to see Rushmore now.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Let’s not forget ‘Scrooged’. That is such a good movie!
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Did he say “oh, I am having the WEIRDEST day” in Scrooged or Groundhog Day? That line has been running through my mind for the last few days and I can’t remember where he said it.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
@ J- It was Scrooged right after the Ghost of Christmas Present sequence. I literally just finished watching that movie this morning!
Report this comment as spam or abuse
That’s my must-watch every year Christmas movie!
J.Eyre- That was Groundhog day. Another good one.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Thanks guys. I think I will just watch both anyway… and maybe Stripes too. Anyone want to join me in a Murrathon?
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Ya just gotta love him. I’ve loved him since his SNL days back in the 70′s (showing my age here). I’d love to just sit and have a major bullsh-t session with him over a few beers. Bet it would be interesting.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
There’s always been alot of adoration for Bill and rightly so. He looks dapper in these pics.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
He is NOT a nice fellow, in the same way Rosie O’Donnell is not nice. He lived in my hometown (as does RO’D) and was married to a woman my mom knew. NOT NICE.
That said, he is a brilliant actor and may some day win an Oscar. He has exactly the right attitude, and will find the right film.
He has lost a lot of weight and looks great! Was worried how schlumpy he was getting, for about a decade…
Report this comment as spam or abuse
do you know the story about him and McG the director “Charlie’s Angels” on the set? http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/may/30/terminator-salvation-mcg
when McG promoted his movie with Pine,Hardy&Witherspoon,some interviews were made in his office.
A journalist askes him “your worst memory ?” McG replied “Bill Murray”
the journalist ” not Bale?” and McG showed him a Xmas card sent by Bale “and he always was professional”
Report this comment as spam or abuse
I always got the impression – just squeezed through the fine filters of media – that he’s “not nice” in a very necessary to retain a normalish life kind of way. Like that he’d either completely ignore you or cut you to psychological shreds if he thought you were treading past a certain line.
Otherwise, I figured he treated co-actors like co-actors, business as business… and know that most people in the industry who say they are your friend are actually snakes in the grass.
I like him. I think he’s wise… if only for the fact that, once he had the money, he threw off the shackles of mainstream Hollywood to do his own thing and not necessarily what won awards or brought in the most cash.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
A Bill Murray story!!! I love this guy – always have, always will – he is the ultimate King of Cool. Funny how so many of us have the same fantasy of drinking and shooting the breeze with him
Report this comment as spam or abuse
I’ve never disliked Bill Murray in a film. Never found him unbelievable. Particularly love him in Wes Anderson movies… oh, that man.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
I totally agree ramona – The Life Aquatic is my all time favorite Bill Murray movie!
Report this comment as spam or abuse
He’s adorable.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Anne Hathaway take note.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
My first thought was, “on how to get out of a car without flashing biscuit?”
xD
Report this comment as spam or abuse
…take note of what? Anne will probably win. From what I know, I do ‘t think she should – I haven’t seen Les Mis, but I’ve seen Amy Adams and Helen Hunt and they were both phenomenal. But I’m sure it will go to Anne for her starving, dying, haircutting performance.
Lost in Translation was a seriously overrated movie, and Bill was a sore loser at the time. He’s fantastic in Wes Anderson movies, but I cringed through the Hyde Park trailer because he was so miscast. Laura Linney deserves better!
Report this comment as spam or abuse
I love Bill Murray even if he is a big jack hole. Because of him in Meatballs, I wanted to go to camp. Stripes, Ghostbusters, Scrooged, Kingpin…I love them all. Whenever I’m having a bad day, I just watch Bill.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
I’ll watch him in anything, even though he’s a notorious asshole. And I can’t remember any actor looking as pissed off as he did when he lost the Oscar.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
I am so sick of these whores posing all the time with their GD mouths open. Murray, you look like a skank.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE I’ve had a crush on him since I was a child watching SNL with my mother and not understanding a damn thing… but loving Bill!
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Loved Groundhog Day, Scrooged (watch it every Christmas as many times as it comes on) and anything else he does. It seems to me a lot of his films probably have a bit of his personality in them, he seems like a smart man that does not suffer Hollywood or any kind of fools gladly.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
His neck wattle is gone. His tiny double chin is gone.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
love him! and his plastic surgery!
Report this comment as spam or abuse