The “no-bullshit” actor that Bill Murray calls “effortless”
There are only a handful of actors around at the moment with careers as broad and vibrant as Bill Murray’s. Managing to master both the mainstream comedy scene and the world of indie arthouse movies, it seems there’s no project Murray can’t tackle. Having worked with stars like Bruce Willis, Tilda Swinton, Scarlett Johansson, Andie MacDowell and beyond, Murray has a range of collaborators from various areas of cinema.
Murray’s career is a true gold star example of climbing the ladder. Starting out as part of Chicago’s The Second City improv troupe before moving to New York to join the cast of Saturday Night Live, he quickly became one of the favourite new faces of comedy in the late 1970s and early ‘80s.
The 1984 film Ghostbusters was one of Murray’s first feature-length films. It would become the highest-grossing comedy film in history at the time, shooting the cast to global success. Going on to star in Groundhog Day, Charlie’s Angels, Garfield, Zombieland and more, he’s no stranger to the world of major mainstream blockbusters.
However, Murray’s heart seems to have always belonged to arthouse and indie flicks. In fact, he only took his role in Ghostbusters to help fund The Razor’s Edge, a passion project that he co-wrote. Similarly, he only agreed to voice Garfield because he misread the director’s name, believing the Joel Cohen-written animated movie was actually by Joel Coen of the Coen brothers.
His adoration for the Coen brothers comes up in an interview with Esquire, where Murray discusses his many collaborators from across his career. Feeling particularly positive, the actor describes his Zombieland co-star Emma Stone as “just a doll”. He says Woody Harrelson has “great ambition”. And, of frequent collaborator Wes Anderson, Murray says, “his stuff just keeps getting better and better”.
But more specifically, one co-star gains glowing praise from Murray for her nonchalance and prowess. Having worked together on Anderson’s 2012 movie Moonrise Kingdom, which stars Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, and Tilda Swinton, amongst others, it was Frances McDormand that really impressed Murray.
“You know, I worked with Frances McDormand in Moonrise Kingdom,” he says. Praising her work ethic and ease, Murray continues, “Talk about a no-bullshit actress. No frills”.
The wife of Joel Coen, McDormand, like Murray, is another indie darling. Gaining notoriety through her work in small-budget independent films, her role in the 1997 Fargo won her ‘Best Actress’ at the Academy Awards. Similarly, her recent role in Nomadland, made with only a relatively small $5million budget, gained her the third ‘Best Actress’ Oscar of her career.
Regularly taking on complex, emotional characters, such as her role in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, where she plays the mother of a murder victim, Murray praises McDormand’s ability to tackle tricky topics.
“She’s just so effortless,” he says. “It’s easier to watch because you don’t get worried.”
