Amidst 'Being Mortal' scandal, here are the other times Bill Murray caused trouble on set
The 2023 movie 'Being Mortal' directed by Aziz Ansari, has suspended production because of Bill Murray, according to reports. The actor has been accused of "inappropriate behavior" on set, leading to an investigation by the film's producers Searchlight Pictures. Things appear to be quite serious, with Searchlight saying "production cannot continue at this time" and putting the entire project on ice.
The scandal surrounding Murray means 'Being Mortal' could never see the light of day, joining 'Rust' as a canned production. Filming on the Alec-Baldwin starrer is yet to resume, and in all likelihood may be canned for good. 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' has also seen several stops, but will still make its November 2022 release date, albeit under a cloud of controversy thanks to Letitia Wright.
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Details from the set of 'Being Mortal' are extremely thin, so we don't know what Murray has been accused of. Reportedly, production was temporarily halted on April 18, 2022, and on April 21, 2022, Searchlight decided to cease production "indefinitely". Along with Murray, the movie also stars Seth Rogan and is based on Atul Gawande’s book 'Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End.'
Bill Murray's troubling on-set history
Principal photography on 'Being Mortal' started on March 28, and the movie was around halfway through shooting when it was suspended, Deadline reported. The complaint was made in early April against Murray, which Searchlight is now investigating. It is far from the only time Murray has landed in trouble. Most famously, Murray had a major falling-out with his co-star Lucy Liu while filming Charlie’s Angels' in 2000.
According to Liu, Murray made "inexcusable and unacceptable" comments about her while filming the movie, and director Joseph McGinty Nichol also said he was headbutted by the beloved comedian on set. "An inch later and my nose would have been obliterated," Nichol told The Guardian in 2009. While Murray never spoke about Liu's allegations, he responded to those by Nichol by saying, "That’s b------t! That’s complete crap! I don’t know why he made that story up."
The allegations go back much further as well. While filming the 1993 movie 'Groundhog Day', Murray allegedly got into a physical altercation with a close friend and the movie's director Harold Ramis. The altercation was so bad that Murray refused to speak with Ramis for over 20 years, which reportedly left the director "heartbroken, confused and yet unsurprised." The two eventually reconciled, just before Ramis died in 2014.
Oscar-winner Richard Dreyfuss accused Murray of throwing an ashtray at his face when the two co-starred in the 1991 movie 'What About Bob?' Dreyfuss also slammed Murray as a "drunken bully". The film's producer, Laura Ziskin, also accused Murray of "threatening to throw me across the parking lot." Eventually, she claimed Murray threw her into a lake but dubbed it "playful".
Way back in 1978, Murray also got into an infamous altercation with comedian Chevy Chase on the set of 'Saturday Night Live'. Perhaps his least-violent altercation occurred while filming the 2004 Wes Anderson comedy 'The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou'. Reportedly, Murray did not invite actress Anjelica Huston for a dinner party, making her the only cast member to miss out on that party. It's unclear what prompted that exclusion, but it appears Murray and Huston have since made up, with the actress noting "he couldn’t have been nicer" at her husband's funeral.
There are plenty of other instances as well, with the cast and crew all having a tough time with Murray. His anger issues are so well known, that 'Ghostbusters' co-star Dan Aykroyd dubbed Murray 'The Murricane'. Despite this long and troubling history, Murray still remains one of America's most beloved comedians and actors. He will appear next in the Marvel movie 'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania' in July 2023, followed by 'Asteroid City' and 'The Greatest Beer Run Ever', both of which are in post-production.