The classic comedy Bill Murray wouldn’t even read the script for: “He flung it across the room!”
Bill Murray has developed a reputation over the years for being a difficult presence on set. While he’s long been celebrated for his comedic brilliance and offbeat charm, several co-stars and collaborators have described him as unpredictable and sometimes combative. In more serious instances, he has faced allegations of inappropriate behaviour, raising questions about how his on-set conduct has evolved over time.
Back in the 1980s, though, his reputation wasn’t so tarnished, and he was beloved for his dominance in the comedy genre. Starring in the likes of Caddyshack and Ghostbusters, he was a go-to star for loveable lead characters, with his time on Saturday Night Live in the late 1970s helping his comedic persona to flourish.
He was naturally offered a lot of scripts during this time, but it seems like his tendency to act like a diva has always been somewhat apparent, because his reaction to being given the screenplay to a comedy classic was utterly tasteless.
After starring in Stripes with PJ Soles, the pair were eyed up to become the leads in the romantic comedy fantasy film Splash. Soles liked the script, but Murray was far from impressed by the offer, and he turned it down without a second thought.
Recalling being given the screenplay by Brian Grazer, Soles told Yahoo that she showed it to Murray at the request of the writer, who thought she and Murray would be the perfect leads. “I read it, and thought that Madison, the mermaid, was just the cutest. I could definitely see myself playing her. So I met with Bill at a restaurant and gave him the script.”
Murray’s difficult sensibility soon became apparent, however. “He asked, ‘Is it a comedy?’ I said, ‘Yes,’ and he flung it across the room! As it’s sailing, I was thinking: ‘Please don’t hit somebody in the head or knock over a wine glass!’ It landed on the floor, luckily,” she said.
Why was he so against the film? It turns out he was done with comedy, or so he claimed. “So that was his response to that! I said, ‘Oh Bill, you’re not even going to read it?’ He said, ‘No, I’m going to do a serious movie after this. I’m done with comedies.’ And then he made The Razor’s Edge and was like, ‘You know what?’”
Sure, Murray did go on to make the more serious The Razor’s Edge, but that same year also saw him take on three more comedies – Ghostbusters, B.C. Rock, and Nothing Lasts Forever. Maybe he just wasn’t interested in falling in love with a mermaid.
“I think Splash is great. It was Darryl Hannah’s movie, and was obviously meant to be for her and Tom Hanks,” Soles added. Hannah and Hanks led the Ron Howard-directed movie to classic status, and in a way, Murray seemed totally wrong for the part of Allen, anyway, so it all worked out.
Splash was a hit, becoming one of the most successful movies of the year, and it remains one of the most charming entries into Hanks’ extensive filmography.
