Cigarette dangling from his hand and with a red beanie atop his head, cinema legend Bill Murray took the stage at The Hollywood Bowl for a rare public appearance in honor of his longtime collaborator Wes Anderson.
From July 10 to the 12, Murray, 75, hosted a star-studded show paying tribute to the director’s soundtracks, The Music from the Films of Wes Anderson.
The legendary venue played host to Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Jason Schwartzman and, of course, the filmmaker himself as the Los Angeles Philharmonic brought Anderson’s soundtracks to life.
Fans were delighted to see Murray appearing on stage to introduce various acts and take part in sing-a-longs with Goldblum, Beck and Schwartzman.
Murray, wearing a red beanie in tribute to his film The Life Aquatic helped kick off the party with a speech celebrating the power of ‘movie people.’
‘What’s at stake here? Well I think what’s at stake is a different way of being. We’re here tonight to hear some music… We’re also here to celebrate the movies and the movie people,’ the actor said to applause during an introductory speech at the July 12th show.
Bill Murray took the stage at The Hollywood Bowl at an event honoring his longtime collaborator Wes Anderson
Murray, 75, wore a red beanie in tribute to his film The Life Aquatic and gave an introductory speech celebrating the power of ‘movie people.’ Pictured at the July 12 show
The Lost In Translation star went on: ‘And the movie people. I’m trying to explain who our movie people, what are movie people? They’re really gypsies. They come from all over. They get combined in funny ways. They work together very hard for a short period of time and then they separate, split up.’
‘And while they’re working they see sunrises that other people won’t be seeing. And when they’re working nights, they see moonrises and moonsets you’re pretty sure no one else has got their eyes on.’
‘You’re going to hear the music played by gypsies too tonight. And right now the gypsies have taken over The Hollywood Bowl,’ Murray said.
A frequent collaborator of Anderson, the SNL legend has starred in 10 films by the filmmaker including Moonrise Kingdom, Asteroid City, The Life Aquatic and The Grand Budapest Hotel.
He first worked with Anderson on his 1998 film, Rushmore, a movie he agreed to do before even meeting the director.
‘Well, meeting him… God, actually meeting him, I would have to think about that! But I’ll bet he remembers it! I don’t remember the actual meeting,’ he told The Talks.
‘I read the script for Rushmore and I just sort of agreed to it. The agents and all the pushy people said, ‘Well, do you want to meet him?’ I said no! (Laughs) I said, ‘What day am I supposed to start work? Let’s go!”
Murray explained: ‘So I finally met him when I showed up in Houston, Texas where we shot it. He was young! I don’t know how long ago we made that first movie, but he was young. He was just a kid, but he was also a guy who knew what the hell he was doing and what he wanted to do, right from the beginning.’
‘We had a good relationship, I felt like I was looking out for him and I still am. I like him, he’s my friend,’ he added.
He appeared in various sing-a-longs including a few with singer Beck (pictured center)
A frequent collaborator of Anderson, the SNL legend has starred in 10 films by the filmmaker including Moonrise Kingdom, Asteroid City, The Life Aquatic and The Grand Budapest Hotel
Murray shot to stardom in the 1970s and has become a comedy icon beloved for roles in such films as Caddyshack, Groundhog Day and Ghostbusters.
But in 2022 Murray was plunged into controversy after he faced a shocking misconduct allegation that doomed his film Being Mortal from being released and forever altered his public reputation.
In an interview with the New York Times last year, he admitted that the incident still haunts him to this day, even as he remains defiant about the investigation’s outcome which he said was not ‘justice.’
When asked if he thought about the incident while playing a man accused of inappropriate conduct in his new film The Friend, he replied: ‘I don’t go too many days or weeks without thinking of what happened in Being Mortal.’
Murray was again swept up in controversy as he promoted the film when he grabbed his co-star Naomi Watts and kissed her unprompted while both appeared on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.
In the interview, he shared his recollection of the circumstances leading up to the complaint about his behavior on Being Mortal, which was to be the directorial debut of its star, Aziz Ansari, before it was shelved.
Murray has starred in a total of 10 Anderson films, including the star-studded Moonrise Kingdom
Acclaimed filmmaker Wes Anderson, pictured 2018, was present at the concert
Murray, pictured in Anderson’s film The Grand Budapest Hotel, was among the many stars paying tribute to Anderson and his movie soundtracks
The Kingpin star noted that the film was shot at the height of the coronavirus pandemic and the cast and crew were ‘all wearing masks and we were all stranded in this one room listening to this crazy scene.’
Before recounting his alleged behavior, he prefaced it by saying: ‘I dunno what prompted me to do it. It’s something that I had done to someone else before, and I thought it was funny, and every time it happened, it was funny.’
Murray explained that, while wearing a mask, he gave the unnamed female crew member, who was also masked, a kiss. ‘It wasn’t like I touched her, but it was just, I gave her a kiss through a mask.’
He added: ‘And she wasn’t a stranger,’ and said the two of them were having lunch multiple times a week before the incident.
Murray’s first film with Anderson was in the 1998 comedy film Rushmore
Murray, who described feeling ‘barbecued’ in the aftermath of the complaint against him, described interventions by HR and subsequent arbitration that he felt were prejudiced against him.
‘It turned out there were pre-existing conditions and all this kind of stuff,’ he said.
‘I’m like, what? How was anyone supposed to know anything like that? There was no conversation, there was nothing. There was no peacemaking, nothing.’
‘It went to this lunatic arbitration, which, if anyone ever suggests you go to arbitration: Don’t do it. Never ever do it. Because you think it’s justice, and it isn’t,’ he said.
The Riff Raff legend lambasted Disney’s HR department as being ‘more strident than some other countries’ and he called the decision not to complete the film a ‘great disappointment.
Murray reportedly paid a $100,000 settlement to the woman in 2022 at the conclusion of the investigation.
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