Bill Murray
Bill Murray
William James "Bill" Murrayis an American actor, comedian, and writer. He first gained exposure on Saturday Night Live, a role which earned him his first Emmy Award and later went on to star in comedy films, including Meatballs, Caddyshack, Stripes, Tootsie, Ghostbusters, Scrooged, Ghostbusters II, What About Bob?, and Groundhog Day. He also co-directed Quick Change...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth21 September 1950
CityWilmette, IL
CountryUnited States of America
If you have a good script, that's what gets you involved. It's harder to write a good screenplay than to find something.
I'm just a potato that won't quit. I'm a potato with some legs. Some have eyes, I've got legs.
I don't really read the reviews - but I remember one I read a long time ago that said I had a face like a potato.
The way financing for independent movies goes is great. You get the money from the guy who's actually doing the distribution in France. You say, "Do you want a piece of this movie?" And he's got to sell this movie to get his money back. That's the brains of it; that's the genius of this financing. "You want Germany? Give us a million dollars and you've got Germany."
I don't feel like it's pressure. It's more of an obligation - not to entertain or be funny, but to have a certain levity. I mean, there's got to be a lightness in your leg. You have to be as light as you can be, and you don't have to be weighted down, stuck in your emotions and stuck in your body, stuck in your head. You just want to try and elevate something.
I count on the kindness of strangers.
When I was a little kid playing baseball, my manager called me Sleepy. And only a few people, who know me from way, way back, call me that still. I used to drift off and that's why they made me the catcher, so I wouldn't fall asleep. That gift I have still.
Drinking again? Go to hell. All I ever do is make some movies that made a lot of money now leave me alone, I want to have some fun.
The money thing is, the sort of Elvis Presley thing of buying you mother car is great, that's very good. My mother has learned how to spend money.
I knew that's where I was going. I knew we were going to Italy. You couldn't make this movie in America at this price. I knew it was going to be big. I knew there was going to be a ship involved and that there was going to be a set as big as the ship. I thought, well, here we go. But I knew that was where he was headed. He had been going this way for some time. All directors, once they have some success, they want to spend a whole heck of a lot of money. (Something else can't hear.)
I don't believe that you can give the same performance every take. It's physically impossible, so why bother? If you don't do what is happening at that moment, then it's not real. Then you're holding something back.
Golf was my first glimpse of comedy. I was a caddy when I was a kid. I was on the golf course rather than being in lessons, but I can play better now than I could then.
Whatever you do, always give 100%. Unless you're donating blood.
I think midlife crisis is just a point where people's careers have reached some plateau and they have to reflect on their personal relationships.