Bill Murray has had the perks of collaborating with some of the top-tier directors in Hollywood on their passion projects. And as he has established himself as a leading star and his stature has grown, his cinematic genius has earned him armloads of accolades and praise from the audience.
Nevertheless, his alleged complex and absurd behavior on his film sets has landed him in hot waters on multiple occasions. In 1993, the actor starred in an American fantasy comedy film Groundhog Dog. The movie director Harold Ramis, who was once his close friend and cast the actor in several of his movies, once revealed that the 72-year-old star caused many complications on the set.
The filmmaker shared that communication became impossible with him, after which he suggested hiring an assistant. Ramis claimed that the problems kept on persisting, which led Murray to finally hire a personal assistant (who was profoundly deaf) to convey messages between them.
Bill Murray Hired a Personal Assistant to Speak with Groundhog Day Movie Director
Bill Murray is a legendary actor who starred in dozens of fascinating movies and television shows, steadily cementing his top-level spot in the entertainment industry. Murray has done long-term work collaborations with many directors, like the late director Harold Ramis. The actor-director duo were once close friends who worked together in several iconic movies.
Nevertheless, their friendship turned sour while working on the Ramis-directed 1993 American fantasy comedy Groundhog Dog. Murray’s alleged frustrating behavior on the movie set caused many complications during the production, and due to their creative differences, they had an altercation.
During the filming, the actor-director duo had many problems, which forced Ramis to suggest Murray hire a personal assistant to convey their conversation smoothly. According to reports, the veteran actor was finalizing his divorce from his former wife while working on the film, which may have affected his bizarre behavior on set.
Harold Ramis Talks About Working With Bill Murray
In a candid interview, late director Harold Ramis once revealed how he had an on-set altercation with Bill Murray, who was working in his directorial Groundhog Dog. Ramis said that after their conflicts, he told the actor to hire assistance, saying,
“Bill had all these obvious resentments toward the production, so it was very hard for a time to communicate with him. Calls would go unreturned. Production assistants couldn’t find him. So someone said, ‘Bill, you know, things would be easier if you had a personal assistant. Then we wouldn’t have to bother you with all this stuff.’ And he said, ‘Okay.’”
He continued,
“So he hired a personal assistant who was profoundly deaf, did not have oral speech, spoke only American sign language, which Bill did not speak, nor did anyone else in the production. But Bill said, ‘Don’t worry, I’m going to learn sign language.’ And I think it was so inconvenient that in a couple weeks, he gave that up. That’s anti-communication, you know? Let’s not talk.”
The titular movie marks the end of their creative collaboration as Harold Ramis swore not to work with Bill Murray again. They have worked together on projects like Meatballs Caddyshack, Stripes, and Ghostbusters.
Source: Farout magazine
