The “sensitive” actor Woody Harrelson called a comedy genius
There’s something special about Woody Harrelson. After finally escaping from the television sitcom Cheers, in which he thought he would be trapped forever, the Texas-born actor set about carving a legacy for himself as one of the greatest actors of his generation, comfortable in a wide range of genres.
For instance, looking at Harrelson’s most notable roles, including those in the likes of The People vs. Larry Flynt, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, White Men Can’t Jump, Natural Born Killers, The Thin Red Line, No Country for Old Men and True Detective, it’s evident that he possesses stunning versatility as an actor.
Considering the brilliant movie performances Harrelson has given throughout his career, it’s clear that he has mastered both the dramatic and comedic fields of acting, a feat that not many are capable of. However, Harrelson himself once pointed out his love for a fellow actor who has proven himself to be as capable in roles of sensitivity as he is in his funny ones.
Discussing the brilliance of Bill Murray in an interview with GQ, Harrelson once noted, “Yeah, I love that guy. He’s incredible. And you know, there is a real depth of sensitivity to him. You expect him that he’s just going to be ‘on’, but he’s really sensitive and kind of shy and still pretty sure of himself.”
Indeed, there has often been a nuanced brilliance to Murray in the way that he can at once be the funniest person in the room but also have the deepest understanding of human nature, and this kind of personality has seen him give some of the best acting performances of the last four decades or so.
“Now I’ve seen him take over a room… but that’s when he is in performance mode,” Harrelson added of his thoughts on Murray. “Once he gets that going he’ll keep it going between takes and engage all kinds of people and do all kinds of antics. He’s a true comedic genius, but in life, he’s really much more quiet, and sensitive and thoughtful. Great guy. He’s a great actor.”
Harrelson was fortunate enough to work with one of his comedy heroes on two brilliant occasions. The first came in 1996’s bowling comedy Kingpin, in which Harrelson played a bowling prodigy, Roy Munson, while Murray played his arch-enemy, Ernie McCracken. Years later, Harrelson convinced Murray to take on a cameo role in 2009’s Zombieland, by which point, they were good friends.
Discussing the manner in which Harrelson went about getting Murray to take part in the post-apocalyptic zombie comedy film also starring Jesse Eisenberg and Emma Stone, the film’s writers, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, once explained, “We were two days away from shooting the scene. We had written an alternate scene with no celebrity, where they just fought a bunch of zombies in this mansion. Paul, to his great credit, doesn’t like to take no for an answer, walked up to Woody Harrelson on the set and said, ‘Woody, anyone else, do you have any other ideas?'”
Thankfully, Harrelson knew a few notable stars and set about contacting both Dustin Hoffman and Murray, and when Hoffman said he wasn’t available, thankfully Murray was interested. “He doesn’t have an email address interestingly, no agent, no manager, it was Woody Harrelson that called him, his buddy,” the writers revealed.
