Bill Murray Regrets his Role in the Garfield The Movie

[disneyboy20022]

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/movie-t ... -good.html

It's a question that's baffled Bill Murray fans for most of the past decade: Why did the actor, usually so discerning in picking his roles, agree to provide the voice for the title character in 2004's universally hated Garfield? He couldn't have needed the money that badly, right? In a delightful interview with Dan Fierman in the new GQ, Murray finally clears everything up: He did the movie because he confused Garfield writer Joel Cohen with Coen brother Joel Coen, and consequently thought he'd be making the Miller's Crossing of half-animated, Breckin Meyer–starring kids' movies about lasagna-loving house cats.

From the interview:

Well, how about Garfield? Can you explain that to me? Did you just do it for the dough?
No! I didn't make that for the dough! Well, not completely. I thought it would be kind of fun, because doing a voice is challenging, and I'd never done that. Plus, I looked at the script, and it said, "So-and-so and Joel Coen." And I thought: Christ, well, I love those Coens! They're funny. So I sorta read a few pages of it and thought, Yeah, I'd like to do that. I had these agents at the time, and I said, "What do they give you to do one of these things?" And they said, "Oh, they give you $50,000." So I said, "Okay, well, I don't even leave the fuckin' driveway for that kind of money."

And it's not like you're helping out an indie director by playing Garfield.
Exactly. He's in 3,000 newspapers every day; he's not hurtin'. Then this studio guy calls me up out of nowhere, and I had a nice conversation with him. No bullshit, no schmooze, none of that stuff. We just talked for a long time about the movie. And my agents called on Monday and said, "Well, they came back with another offer, and it was nowhere near $50,000." And I said, "That's more befitting of the work I expect to do!" So tehy went off and shot the movie, and I forgot all about it. Finally, I went out to L.A. to record my lines. And usually when you're looping a movie, if it takes two days, that's a lot. I don't know if I should even tell this story, because it's kind of mean. [beat] What the hell? It's interesting. So I worked all day and kept going, "That's the line? Well, I can't say that." And you sit there and go, What can I say that will make this funny? And make it make sense? And I worked. I was exhausted, soaked with sweat, and the lines got worse and worse. And I said, "Okay, you better show me the 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 fuck was Coen thinking?" And then they explained it to me: It wasn't written by that Joel Coen.

And the pieces fall into place.
[shakes head sadly] At least they had whats-her-name. The mind reader, pretty girl, really curvy girl, body's one in a million? What's her name? Help me. You know who I mean.

Jennifer Love Hewitt?
Right! At least they had her in good-looking clothes. Best thing about the movie. But that's all ugly. That's inappropriate. That's just... [laughs] That's why, when they say, "Any regrets?" at the end of Zombieland, I say, "Well, maybe Garfield."


Fair enough. But this doesn't explain why he returned for the 2006 sequel, Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties, which was also not made by the Coen brothers.

Elsewhere, Murray says that Harold Ramis's Year One might have killed Ghostbusters 3, since it was written by Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg (who were to write GB3) and "people who [saw it], including other Ghostbusters, said it was one of the worst things they had ever seen in their lives." So, to conclude, Bill Murray is a terrific interview subject.

[ajmrowland]

just as he said in Zombieland. I was going to say that but the article did.

I dont mind Garfield at all. I only saw one movie though.

[Khonnor]

And he should regret it, it was awful.

Hopefully Ghostbusters 3 isn't completely canned.

[blackcauldron85]

I haven't seen either Garfield movie, but a) the article is right- it doesn't explain why he returned for the sequel (probably for the $), and while I've seen a Bill Murray film or two or three, and have seen SNL, and have nothing against him as an actor, I really don't know much about him, but he seems almost jerkish in this article...yes?

[Goliath]

Pure bullshit. Murray trying to make himself look better than doing a movie purely for the money (but revealing himself with comments about "not leaving my driveway" for $50,000). He says he only knew how bad the written dialogue was when he was already in the studio recording. Yeah, like he signs up for a movie without having read the whole script! (And he said he read the script!) And does anybody believe Murray thinks the Coens would do a movie about Garfield?

The way Murray answers the questions, I'd say he was seriously drunk. Drunk or high. Or maybe he's always like this, but in that case he's an asshole.

[SpringHeelJack]

Of course Bill Murray's an asshole. Nothing new there. And he'd hardly be the first person to do a movie without reading the script, particularly in voiceover roles, which tend to be recorded in a day or so.

[Lazario]

I haven't seen either Garfield movie, but a) the article is right- it doesn't explain why he returned for the sequel (probably for the $), and while I've seen a Bill Murray film or two or three, and have seen SNL, and have nothing against him as an actor, I really don't know much about him, but he seems almost jerkish in this article...yes?

More than jerkish, yes.

But then, at least he doesn't hide it. It is a shocking thing to read (the 50,000 thing is beyond cocky- it's extreme egotism, plain and simple). But it won't affect my ability to enjoy his performances. Tom Towles once said that all actors, writers, and directors get involved in filmmaking to try to turn something wrong with them into something functional. I have no doubt right about now that there really is something legit in that theory.

[PatrickvD]

Pure bullshit. Murray trying to make himself look better than doing a movie purely for the money (but revealing himself with comments about "not leaving my driveway" for $50,000). He says he only knew how bad the written dialogue was when he was already in the studio recording. Yeah, like he signs up for a movie without having read the whole script! (And he said he read the script!) And does anybody believe Murray thinks the Coens would do a movie about Garfield?

The way Murray answers the questions, I'd say he was seriously drunk. Drunk or high. Or maybe he's always like this, but in that case he's an asshole.

exactly, that article answers none of the questions. I seriously doubt he genuinely thought Joel Coen was writing a Garfield film. Is he that out of touch with reality? That he really thought we'd buy that?

[PixarFan2006]

This is why you should always read over something completely BEFORE you agree to go ahead and do it.

I rented the first movie once and did not like it at all. It broke several rules of the strip (Which is REALLY stale now).

[Luke]

Is he that out of touch with reality? That he really thought we'd buy that?

I don't know. He claims he's only seen the final episode of "Seinfeld", which he can't even remember the name of. Either he's trying to come off cool or, more likely, he just doesn't give a damn about anything. The sequel was probably part of his original film's contract.

Anyway, if this was anyone else, I'd think they came off like a real jerk, but Bill Murray is a legend and I find his whole devil-may-care I'll-do-it-my-way attitude amusing.

Besides, Murray's notorious inaccessibility/selectivity caused him to miss out on voicing Sulley in <i>Monsters, Inc.</i>. That probably made him more eager to try the voiceover thing for the "Coen brother" movie.

Here is the full article:
http://www.gq.com/entertainment/celebri ... -interview

[milojthatch]

He should be sad he worked on it, it was part of a string of GCIed classic cartoons dumbing them down! Which is sad, with Lorenzo Music dead, Bill is the best choice to voice the character.

[Duckburger]

Next up: Hoodwinked 2, Osmosis Jones, Charlie's Angles, City of Ember, The Lost City, and so forth.

Get to it Bill, so many mediocre movies, so little time.

[Luke]

Wow, I was going to say "<i>Hoodwinked 2</i>", because I thought you were playing "Guess the one that Bill Murray isn't in." I see that Wikipedia says otherwise. Seriously? There'd no way of explaining that. I don't care if you thought Mike Ditka was writing and directing and the Chicagoan in you wants to help out the Coach.

IMDb doesn't list him though. Is that movie even coming out? Didn't they have a Burger King promotion for it in like January?

[Duckburger]

Yeah, I have no idea what happened to that film. Though, I do recall some legal difficulties, or something along those lines. But yeah, there's no talking his way out of that one.

EDIT: From what I can gather on articles I found, The Weinstein Company delayed the film, then got sued by the company who produced the film, as a result they aren't allowed to put out the film until the lawsuit is over. The Weinsteins can't seem to catch a break these days. Oh, well...

[ajmrowland]

as much as Garfield broke strip rules, i dont really hate it. They even stated a reason for Jon not being as doofy as he is in the cartoons.

I only have the movie on PSP.

[milojthatch]

Next up: Hoodwinked 2, Osmosis Jones, Charlie's Angles, City of Ember, The Lost City, and so forth.

Get to it Bill, so many mediocre movies, so little time.

hehehehehehehehehehe

"Hoodwinked 2"

hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe

[KubrickFan]

But then, at least he doesn't hide it. It is a shocking thing to read (the 50,000 thing is beyond cocky- it's extreme egotism, plain and simple)

I honestly read it more as a joke, and I'm sure that's how he meant it. But so what if an actor does a role for money? It's not unheard of. I'm sure you don't need to do Garfield 1 and 2 for the immense acting challenge .

[Lazario]

Good one. I haven't done either because they look incredibly stupid and the general consensus here is that they are.

I meant it's shocking - especially since America's financial problems are still serious and pressing - to see someone who seems to have an attitude (yeah, maybe it's a joke... but maybe it's not) flaunting a high opinion of themselves this way. If he says something like that even as a joke in public (in an interview or even on the streets), there should be some kind of response to it.

[chadhobbick]

I thought I read that Murray did Garfield out of respect for Lorenzo Music who voiced Garfield and Murray's character on the Ghostbusters animated series. Hell, if he had stuck w/that story it would have come off better than that interview where he basically goes around the fact that he did it for money. There is nothing wrong w/doing a movie for the money, hell look at Morgan Freeman. I read that the reason he did Batman Begins was for the money, he wanted to make blockbuster movie money for once in his career and it worked. Have some class Murray...

[Goliath]

I thought I read that Murray did Garfield out of respect for Lorenzo Music who voiced Garfield and Murray's character on the Ghostbusters animated series. Hell, if he had stuck w/that story it would have come off better than that interview where he basically goes around the fact that he did it for money. There is nothing wrong w/doing a movie for the money, hell look at Morgan Freeman. I read that the reason he did Batman Begins was for the money, he wanted to make blockbuster movie money for once in his career and it worked. Have some class Murray...

But I don't understand that. Why would big Hollywood actors like Murray or Morgan Freeman do a movie 'for the money'? I mean, I can understand why a B-actor who just does direct-to-dvd movie has to do films 'for the money', because he's gotta pay his rent. But big stars like Murray and Freeman certainly don't need any more money. They could retire and never be worried about money again. They've made millions of just one of their films; image if you add up all those millions.

But I guess there will always be people who never have enough. Take Wesley Snipes: a big name actor who made millions of dollars, but *still* felt the need to cheat on his (already ridiculously low) taxes!