Bill Murray speaks out about ‘Being Mortal’ film shutdown, saying ‘I did something I thought was funny, and it wasn’t taken that’
“We had a difference of opinion; 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,” Murray said. “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. But as of now we’re talking and we’re trying to make peace with each other.”
The nature of the complaint has not been made public, but Murray said he had been thinking a lot about what happened, and it has been “quite an education” for him, according to the interview he gave CNBC.
“You know what I always thought was funny as a little kid isn’t necessarily the same as what’s funny now. Things change and the times change, so it’s important for me to figure it out,” Murray said. “I think the most important thing is that it’s best for the other person. I thought about and that it’s not best for the other person, doesn’t matter what happens for me. And that gave me a great deal of comfort and relaxation because your brain doesn’t operate well when you’re in the unknown, when you’re thinking like, ‘well, how can I be so…how can I misperceive? How can I be so inaccurate and so insensitive,’ when you think you’re being sensitive to some sensibility that you’ve had for a long time.”
The actor also told CNBC he hopes to work out his differences with the woman and restart production of “Being Mortal.”
“What would make me the happiest would be to put my boots on and for both of us to go back into work and be able to trust each other and work at the work that we both spent a lot of time developing the skill of,” Murray said to CNBC. “And hopefully do something that’s good for more than just the two of us, but for a whole crew of people who are movie makers and the movie studio as well.”
Ansari wrote the script and was also expected to play a role in the film.
Searchlight Pictures has not responded to multiple requests from CNN for comment.