Bill Murray has had an incredibly fruitful career, but if he put in just a bit more effort it could have been so much better—because honestly the process of reaching him is more than a bit ridiculous. In order for a director or producer to get in touch with Murray, they have to leave him a message by calling an automated 1-800 phone number. If Murray chooses to respond and is interested in the role, they will then have to—and we’re not making this up—fax their script to Murray’s local office supply in order for it to reach him.
This is all according to author Robert Schnakenberg, who just released a book titled The Big Bad Book of Bill Murray. In it, Schnakenberg revealed that Murray missed out on appearing in The People Vs. Larry Flint and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? because before his 1-800 system (which was implemented in 2000), he was very, very bad at returning phone calls.
He also knowingly passed up on Bottle Rocket because he was driving across the country in a Winnebago at the time, and he didn’t do Shrek because it took too long to make. To reiterate, Murray’s filmography is illustrious, but so is the full list of movies he refused over the years, which are, according to Schnakenberg:
- Iron Man
- Bad Santa
- Monsters Inc.
- The People Vs. Larry Flint
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
- The Squid and the Whale
- Splash
- About Last Night
- Legal Eagles
- Bottle Rocket
- The Dead Zone
- An untitled Clint Eastwood World War II comedy
- Airplane!
- Shrek
- The Witches of Eastwick
- Lost in America
- Alvin and the Chipmunks
- Boogie Nights
- Forrest Gump
- Gung Ho
- Kindergarten Cop
- Rain Man
- Toy Story
Let’s remember that these titles weren’t good enough for Murray, but Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties was.
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HT: Consequence of Sound
Image Credit: Buena Vista Pictures
