Actor Bill Murray admitted that his behavior on the set of “Being Mortal” led to a complaint from a woman and the suspension of filming.
The actor-comedian, 71, said during an interview with CNBC on Saturday said that the incident that led to the complaint was a “difference of opinion” but did not provide specifics.
“I did something I thought was funny and it wasn’t taken that way,” Murray said during the interview, which was held at the annual shareholders meeting for Berkshire Hathaway. “The movie studio wanted to do the right thing so they wanted to check it all out, investigate it and so they stopped the production.”
Bill Murray reflects on inappropriate behavior that led to the shutdown of his latest film https://t.co/OGFVUDAnxR
— CNBC (@CNBC) May 1, 2022
Murray’s comments come after Searchlight Pictures suspended production on the film, which was the directorial debut of Aziz Ansari.
“As of now we are talking and we are trying to make peace with each other,” Murray added during his interview with CNBC. “We are both professionals, we like each others’ work, we like each other I think and if we can’t really get along and trust each other there’s no point in going further working together or making the movie as well. It’s been quite an education for me.”
“Being Mortal” was announced in February with principal photography starting in March, and was about halfway through production, Variety reported. The film, which is based on Atul Gawande’s nonfiction book “Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End,” had been scheduled to be released in 2023.
“Being Mortal” stars Murray, Seth Rogen and Keke Palmer, People reported.
It is not the first time Murray’s behavior has been called into question.
In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment, actor Richard Dreyfuss alleged that Murray, whom Dreyfuss said was intoxicated at the time, threw an ashtray at his head while they were filming “What About Bob?”
The film’s producer, Laura Ziskin, said Murray threw her into a lake, threatened her and broke her sunglasses, Yahoo Entertainment reported.
Director McG said Murray head-butted him while filming “Charlie’s Angels,” which Murray has denied.
“Charlie’s Angels” co-star Lucy Liu said Murray directed “inexcusable and unacceptable” insults at her, Yahoo Entertainment reported.
Murray said he has spent the last week thinking about the latest incident.
“I think it’s a sad dog that can’t learn anymore,” Murray told CNBC. “That’s a really sad puppy that can’t learn anymore. I don’t want to be that sad dog and I have no intention of it.”
“What would make me the happiest would be to put my boots on and for both of us to go back into work and be able to trust each other and work at the work that we’ve both spent a lot of time developing the skill of.”
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