Bill Murray Still Regrets Rejecting a Clint Eastwood Film in the ’80s
Bill Murray still regrets the time he passed up the opportunity to act in a Clint Eastwood movie.
In a recent interview with ‘The Howard Stern Show’, the actor expressed his greatest regret in his career: not pursuing a comedy with Eastwood.
Murray observed years ago that Eastwood’s sidekick characters consistently had noteworthy roles, frequently involving dramatic death scenes and retribution storylines, when seeing his films such as ‘Thunderbolt’ and ‘Lightfoot’. This prompted him to make an impromptu phone call to Eastwood.
Eastwood pitched him a concept for a big-budget Navy comedy during their chat. Eastwood asked Murray whether he would be interested in another movie with a military theme, because he had previously starred in Stripes. Murray was hesitant, though, fearing that accepting the position might force him to work on related projects. He turned down the offer because he was afraid of being typecast, and he has subsequently regretted that choice.
Image Courtesy: People
In retrospect, Murray acknowledged that declining it is still one of his few regrets in his career. He recalled the film’s ambitious ambition, which included the possibility of a large flotilla and actual World War II boats. He questions whether he might have ended up with one of those dramatic death scenarios he adored, even though it was more humorous in tone.
Even though Eastwood has long ago moved on, he always feels guilty about not accepting the role when he sees him. The renowned director, according to Murray, is a “very resilient fellow” who doesn’t think about the past.
Murray also talked about how Stripes was first created for the comic pair of Tommy Chong and Cheech Marin during the discussion. He disclosed that their representative did not even show them the screenplay before rejecting the project. There were even crazier, stoner-inspired sequences in the original edition, such as a South American hallucinogenic scene.
–Farheen Ali
