The actor Bill Murray said that a movie wherein he was set to star was suspended because an attempt at humor had been taken amiss by a female co-star, addressing publicly for the primary time an episode that has gotten widespread attention.
“I did something I believed was funny, and it wasn’t taken that way,” Murray said in an interview on Saturday with CNBC’s Becky Quick, during coverage of Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholders’ meeting.
Murray, who’s 71, labeled the episode a “difference of opinion” and didn’t apologize. While limiting his discussion of what happened to generalities and without going into detail, he spoke contritely about unwittingly “insensitive” behavior.
“I’ve been doing not much else but desirous about it for the last week or two,” he said. “The world’s different than it was once I was a bit kid. What I at all times thought was funny as a bit kid isn’t necessarily similar to what’s funny now.”
The movie, “Being Mortal,” based on a 2014 book of the identical title by the author and surgeon Atul Gawande, is being made by Searchlight Pictures, which Murray said is conducting an investigation into the episode.
Murray was the movie’s intended lead, and it was also to star Aziz Ansari, who had been directing it and who wrote the script. Seth Rogen and Keke Palmer had also been forged within the film.
The episode involving Murray happened on April 15. Production was halted that day, someone working on the movie told The Recent York Times on the condition of anonymity, because details of the matter were being kept confidential.
Murray didn’t name the feminine colleague who had objected to his behavior, but he said the 2 of them were in contact and that he felt optimistic about resolving the difficulty.
“We like one another’s work, and we like one another, I believe,” he said. “What would make me the happiest can be to place my boots on and for each of us to return into work.”
Searchlight sent the forged and crew a letter, a duplicate of which was obtained by The Times, that attributed the suspension of filming to a criticism but didn’t discover its nature or who made it. The person working on the movie said the cause was an allegation of “inappropriate behavior.”
Murray is understood for taking part in gruff but lovable characters in blockbuster comedies like “Caddyshack” and “Ghostbusters,” and he’s a member of a troupe of actors related to the director Wes Anderson, having been the lead in Anderson’s 2004 film, “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.”
The suspension of the filming of “Being Mortal” has brought attention to past criticisms of Murray’s on-set behavior.
The actress Lucy Liu has described Murray insulting her throughout the filming of “Charlie’s Angels” (2000), and the actor Richard Dreyfuss has said Murray threw an ashtray at him once they worked on “What About Bob?”(1991).
In a 2014 interview with Rolling Stone, Anderson said Murray developed strong chemistry with a spread of fellow actors.
Within the CNBC interview, Murray said, “If we will’t really get along and trust one another, there’s no point in going further working together.” But, he added, “I believe that’s a tragic puppy that may’t learn anymore. I don’t wish to be that sad dog, and I haven’t any intention of it.”
