A behaviour complaint was filed against Bill Murray on the Being Mortal set that had delayed production for the last two weeks.
It was made known that Searchlight Pictures halted the production of Being Mortal for the past weeks due to an investigation of one particular actor’s actions. At first, it was not known who the complaint was against, but it was revealed to be the Ghostbusters star, Bill Murray, for his behaviour against an unnamed woman on set. The production stopped in mid-April, but Searchlight had not commented any further than what the actor revealed in the 2022 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting with CNBC.
Murray explained to the host, Becky Quick, “I had a difference of opinion with a woman I’m working with…I did something I thought was funny, and it wasn’t taken that way. The company — the movie studio — wanted to do the right thing, so they wanted to check it all out and investigate it, and so they stopped the production.”
He continued to narrate on how they had both been working to move past the issue as he recognized his misconduct. “We like each other’s work. We like each other, I think. 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.”
An anonymous Being Mortal production member told The Washington Post they thought that most of the crew members were “extremely sad and heartbroken that this particular production is shutting down because for many people, this was the best set they had been on.” They even stated how everyone on set “was respectful and supportive of one another.”
Murray’s last known clash with a cast member came out almost a year ago when the Kung Fu Panda and Kill Bill star, Lucy Liu, spoke to the Los Angeles Times on her argument with Murray on the 2000s Charlie’s Angels set. “I was not going to just sit there and take it,” Liu commented. “So, yes, I stood up for myself, and I don’t regret it. Because no matter how low on the totem pole you may be or wherever you came from, there’s no need to condescend or to put other people down. And I would not stand down, and nor should I have.”
The 71-year-old actor closed the CNBC interview by describing how the last two weeks had been educational for him and how he recognized how the world has been changing. “You know, the world is different than it was when I was a little kid,” he said. “What I always thought was funny as a little kid isn’t necessarily the same as what’s funny now. Things change. The times change. It’s important for me to figure it out, and I think the most important thing is that it’s best for the other person.”
The final message, he added, “You learn so much more from your mistakes than from your successes.” Without more details, it seemed that Murray had been working on understanding the issue deeply, but nothing has been revealed about what he said to the unknown Being Mortal cast member.
Being Mortal is an upcoming film based on surgeon Atul Gawande’s non-fiction book on end-of-life care, Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. This would be comedian Aziz Ansari’s (This is The End) directorial debut, who also faced scrutiny when he was accused of sexual misconduct. Seth Rogan (The Boys) and Keke Palmer (Nope) were confirmed to be co-stars in the film. The production started in March with no updates as to what Searchlight would do next for the film.
