Bill Murray has had an incredible Hollywood journey. The actor has appeared in many iconic roles, and there have also been some of his films that couldn’t perform well, yet that doesn’t bother Murray. However, there is this one film Murray regrets doing. The actor lends his voice to the ginger cat called Garfield.
The 2004 film Garfield: The Movie, followed by its sequel Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties was a box office hit, but it still couldn’t make its place in Murray’s heart. During an interview, the actor revealed that a slight confusion landed him in a situation where he ended up doing the movie just to regret it later.
A slight confusion left Bill Murray regretting his role
Despite receiving negative reviews from critics, the 2004 film Garfield: The Movie was a big box office success. The titular character of the film, Garfield, was brought to life by legendary actor Bill Murray.
According to Bill Murray, he would have never signed the film if he were clear with the name of the writer of the film. During an interview, the actor revealed that he thought the comic book adaptation was written by one of the Coen brothers, Joel Coen.
However, it was actually written by Joel Cohen. The similarity in the first names of both writers must have confused Murray, and hence he ended up as Garfield. The actor said,
“I was exhausted, soaked with sweat, and the lines got worse and worse. And I said, ‘Okay, you better show me the whole rest of the movie, so we can see what we’re dealing with.’ So I sat down and watched the whole thing, and I kept saying, ‘Who the hell cut this thing? Who did this? What the f*** was Coen thinking?’ And then they explained it to me: it wasn’t written by that Joel Coen.”
The actor further explained that he was so fond of Coen’s comic timing that just knowing that a script was written by him was enough for him to sign a film. But perhaps only if Murray had considered going through the name of the writer of the film, he would have saved himself from this regret.
Why did Bill Murray detest his role as Garfield?
First of all, Garfield wasn’t the film Bill Murray willingly opted for; rather, his presence in the film was the result of his confusion about the film’s writer. After signing the film, Murray realized what a blunder he had made, as he wasn’t able to flex his comedic skills.
The actor is known for his great comic timing, and Garfield being a comedy film would have given him a platform to showcase his skills, but unfortunately, while filming the movie, the overenthusiastic cast of the film recorded their dialogue beforehand, due to which Murray couldn’t get his chance to shine. The actor said,
“So I worked like that with this grey blob and these lines that were already written. Trying to unpaint myself out of a corner. I think I worked six or seven hours for one reel? No, eight hours. And that was for ten minutes.”
Following the box office success of Garfield, filmmakers have decided to release the third theatrical Garfield movie. However, unlike the previous two live-action films, this one will be an animated film. The film directed by Mark Dindal and written by David Reynolds features Chris Pratt is the voice of Garfield.
The film is scheduled to release on May 24, 2024.
Source: Far Out
