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.
It's a lot of work to read a crummy script.
'Groundhog Day' was one of the greatest scripts ever written. It didn't even get nominated for an Academy Award.
I sat down recently with the boss and we decided it would be much better for Johnny to go out with a bang than to hang around the Square for years, ageing gracefully,
Grab this day by the neck and kiss it.
Life is a game, and it's much more fun if you play it as your own game, so stay light and loose and relaxed.
I feel that if you really want an Oscar, you're in trouble. It's like wanting to be married - you'll take anybody. If you want the Oscar really badly, it becomes a naked desire and ambition. It becomes very unattractive.
This really should be kept secret, but you can learn a lot by watching the making-of DVDs. Every actor should do it. You figure out what you're dealing with.
One of my gripes about movies is that people take them so seriously, and the moneymaking aspects are so brutal.
Something wild can happen to anybody and I caution anybody that walks out on the street, just settle your accounts before you leave the house every day.
That's the reason I'm not the one that's dead because the attraction of the fast life is very powerful.
I'd sort of gone through some sort of spiritual change in the late 70s where I sort of saw there was some other life to live. It changed the way that I worked just having a different presence and a different tension.
There are a lot of actors that are more talented than me at Second City who quit it before they even got to a paying status. Weird luck. I had no other option.
I would jump into the middle of the street and say, "excuse me, there's a Mercedes that's got to get through here." And I would push people out of the way, "get out of the way! Let him through!" Smacking their cars and stuff. Just like, "whack" and you just jump into it.