The two movies that “reawakened” Bill Murray’s love for acting: “I’ve been lazy”
Setting aside any discussion of Bill Murray’s temperament, on-set conduct, or accusations of inappropriate behaviour, it only takes a cursory glance at his filmography in the last decade to see the iconic comedy star settled into a comfort zone at a certain point.
In fact, from 2016 to 2025, Murray mostly appeared in Wes Anderson movies, Ghostbusters sequels, or films directed by people he’d worked with before.
Bizarrely, before two indie movies ignited his love for acting again in 2024, the only film Murray made that deviated from this easy pattern was the truly abysmal Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. This was quite handily one of the worst ever entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Murray popping up for a smug, self-satisfied cameo as the instantly forgettable ‘Lord Krylar’ was something that most fans immediately memory-holed, never to think of again.
Fascinatingly, Murray was the first to admit there was only one person to blame for his career falling into such an uninspired zone: himself. “I’ve been lazy,” he confessed at the Sundance Film Festival. “I’ve lived the life of a bass, waiting for something to come down at me. If something lands in my mouth, I’ll eat it.”
As bizarre as that explanation is, it’s actually deceivingly simple. For most of his ’60s and into his ’70s, Murray got complacent and comfortable with what he was familiar with. In essence, he stopped actively searching for new, interesting material because he knew something easy would come his way soon enough. A Sofia Coppola movie (On the Rocks)? Yes, please. A Zombieland sequel, another outing with Jim Jarmusch (The Dead Don’t Die), or re-teaming with Peter Farrelly (The Greatest Beer Run Ever)? That’ll do nicely.
In truth, this is a malaise that affects many people in countless industries when they advance in years and lose that fire in their bellies; it just so happens that Murray is a movie star, so the public gets to critique his choices. However, it backfired on him when, over time, his lack of enthusiasm about anything new, coupled with his notorious status as the hardest man in Hollywood to reach, led to a scenario where he’s “not the first person people think of to be in studio movies.”
Thankfully for Murray’s career and his creative energies, in 2023, he signed up for two independent movies made by directors he’d never worked with before. The first was The Friend, a book adaptation written and helmed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel, and the second was Riff Raff, a crime comedy directed by A Guide to Recognising Your Saints’, Dito Montiel. Suddenly, to Murray’s surprise, something inside him began to stir, and he realised he was feeling something he hadn’t felt in years: passion for his work. “Only in this last year, doing these has reawakened me about searching for material,” he admitted with a smile.
What was it about these parts that prompted Murray to finally shake himself out of apathy? Well, it had a lot to do with the material, and what the actor saw as an opportunity to set himself a challenge for the first time in a long while. “My first reaction was there was a lot that was going to be required that wasn’t written in the script,” Murray told Cine Shout about The Friend. “Basically, I had to be able to be a real, pretty good actor. But the script…gave you an opportunity to really bring as much as you were capable of to the job.”
As for Riff Raff, Montiel revealed to Far Out that Murray was so engaged by the script that he talked over every single line on-set before “Action” was yelled. “He’s very serious about his role,” Montiel explained. “Sometimes, you’re a bit in awe. I’m thinking, ‘I can’t believe Bill Murray gives that much of a shit.’ I mean, I certainly do, but it’s nice that he does, you know?”
