The Oscar-winning movie Bill Murray was paid not to star in: “They bought out his contract”
Everyone knows the hardest thing about getting Bill Murray to appear in a movie is finding him. The actor and comedian has lost out on multiple roles because nobody knew where the hell he was, although the shoe was once placed on the other foot.
The Saturday Night Live alum had reached an agreement and signed on the dotted line to headline what became a revolutionary movie that conquered the box office and won four Academy Awards for its innovation and artistry, only for him to be paid off so that he could be replaced in the main role.
It didn’t seem to knock him off his stride too much, though, with Murray’s approach to Hollywood’s inner workings having always been somewhere between apathetic and lackadaisical. He makes the films he wants to make, and his only major regret is not seizing the opportunity to collaborate with Clint Eastwood when what turned out to be a once-in-a-lifetime chance presented itself.
On this occasion, nobody had to jump through hoops, call mysterious phone numbers, try desperately to contact him by fax, or put the feelers out across the industry to discover if anyone knew how to track him down. Murray was signed, sealed, and delivered, only to be removed from Robert Zemeckis’ Who Framed Roger Rabbit? when everyone started to realise he was all wrong for the part.
In the production’s defence, finding the perfect Eddie Valiant was a nightmare. Harrison Ford wanted too much money, Chevy Chase declined, and Eddie Murphy was thoroughly unconvinced that live-action and animated elements could co-exist in the same film, which came back to haunt him.
Almost every notable leading man in Tinseltown was considered at one time or another, which made Bob Hoskins such a surprising choice. The gruff, grizzled, diminutive, and barrel-chested English geezer didn’t jump out as an above-the-line blockbuster star, but his throwback nature made him the ideal straight man for the two and three-dimensional chaos that constantly unfolded around him.
In an interview with Cracked, Gary K Wolf, who created the title character and wrote the novel upon which Who Framed Roger Rabbit? was based, reflected on the arduous journey towards Hoskins. “For Eddie Valiant, we needed someone who was able to convince the audience that all these cartoon characters were real,” he said.
“Eventually, we found the guy everyone thought would be bankable because no one knew if this movie was going to be good,” he explained. “That guy was Bill Murray.” Despite his initial confidence, Wolf quickly realised the Ghostbusters favourite was the opposite of what the picture needed.
“It then became really obvious that Bill Murray not only couldn’t make audiences believe these characters were real, but he didn’t believe these characters were real,” the author continued. “He was constantly doing double-takes. ‘You’re a talking rabbit! You’re a talking pig! What are you doing here?’ So, they bought him out of his contract.”
It’s not difficult to imagine a version of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? where Murray plays Valiant, but it’s hard to argue against the production finally landing on the right guy when they settled on Hoskins.
