Bill Murray has opened up about one of the biggest regrets of his career.
The Ghostbusters actor, 74, has appeared in a slew of acclaimed and well-loved films, including Lost in Translation, Rushmore, and Groundhog Day. As is the case with many actors, however, there will always been the “one that got away”.
Speaking on The Howard Stern Show, Murray recalled his remorse after turning down the chance to work with screen icon Clint Eastwood in the 1980s.
“A long time ago I was watching the Clint Eastwood movies of the day, like Thunderbolt and Lightfoot or whatever the movies he was making then, and I thought: ‘His sidekick gets killed, and he avenges, but the sidekick gets like a great part, a great death scene,’” he explained.
“I was like, ‘I got to call this guy!’ So I called him out of the blue, and he said, ‘Would you ever want to do another service comedy?’ Because I just made [the military comedy] Stripes and he had this great idea for an enormous Navy thing,” Murray continued. “
“And when he said, ‘Would you ever want to do another service comedy,’ like jeez, ‘Would I become like Abbott and Costello?’ I had to do like military movies? And I said, ‘Well, God, I guess maybe I shouldn’t.’”
According to Murray, this reticence to do another comedy film set in the armed-forces would soon seem like a mistake.
The film in question is believed to be Heartbreak Ridge (1986), a dark wartime comedy directed by and starring Eastwood.
“But it’s one of the few regrets I have is that I didn’t do it,” Murray added. “Because it was a big-scale thing, and I would have gotten a great – I don’t know if I’d have gotten a great death scene, it was more of a comedy that one – but it was great. He had access to World War II boats and he could have like made a flotilla and stuff, and there was some cool stuff in it.”
He revealed that he did apologise to Eastwood after realising the error of his decision.
“When I see him, I’m like: ‘I’m sorry, I wish I’d done that Clint, I’m really sorry,’” Murray recalled. “[But] he’s certainly well over it. He’s a very resilient fella.”
Eastwood recently released his 40th directorial effort, the courtroom thriller Juror No 2; the Hollywood legend is now 94 years old.
