Bill Murray Unimpressed by Josh Harnett, Finds Possible Soulmate in Christopher Doyle
The cottage industry of quirky Bill Murray stories -- the ones that have him attending a Halloween party in Williamsburg or sneaking up behind an unsuspecting man in Union Square and covering his eyes -- seem almost too perfect to be true. It's like Murray and Wes Anderson sat around on the set of Rushmore and decided to carefully curate the "Bill Murray" that exists today, forever flummoxing publicists, journalists and fans alike. But then, every once in a while, Murray says something in the press that makes you think that he is as legitimate as they come -- that all the stories are probably true. For instance: Remember that time when Bill Murray completely blew off Josh Hartnett?
The latest issue of BlackBook contains a profile on Murray that recounts his past adventures -- of the Union Square blindfolding, which was always rumored to end with Murray saying to his victim, "No one will ever believe you," the actor suspiciously says, "Who would ever believe him?" -- but it's his celebrity encounters that provide much of the juice. Of Hartnett:
"This guy shakes my hand and says, 'You worked on Lost in Translation with my [then] girlfriend. Was she as much trouble for you as she was for me?' But Scarlett [Johansson] was 17 when I worked with her, so no, she wasn't," he says. "I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but I don't know who the f*ck anyone is. I go through US Weekly, and it's filled with reality stars I've never heard of. I don't recognize anyone. People? Forget it."
Bill Murray: He's just like us. He also regales readers with a story about famed cinematographer Christopher Doyle -- whose name he could not recall -- which makes the Wong Kar-wai regular sound as batty as Murray.
"The guy wears platform shoes when he's working. He can't talk for 16 seconds without going into a rant. He once told me this crazy story about living in Hong Kong, next to the world's longest escalator. He'd strip naked in front of his window for everyone to see. But the thing was almost a mile long--the escalator--so by the time people got to the end of it they couldn't remember what building he was in."
And somewhere, Wes Anderson shouts, "Why didn't I think of that one first?!"
· Bill Murray: The Man Who Knew Too Much [BlackBook]
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About 20 years ago while in college I interned for a film development office in midtown Manhattan. Bill Murray had an office there and would arrive each day around noon with a sweatshirt hood closed tightly around his head, the drawstrings of the hood pulled so that there was only a small circle, just big enough for him to peek out of. Bill apparently would walk around the city like this so people wouldn't recognize him. As soon as he stepped through the doors of the office however, he would take his hands and open that little 4 inch hole in his hood, pulling his hood back down over his head and shaking his hair loose like a dog that just came in from the rain shakes off the water. You could see he was relieved to not have to 'hide' anymore. He would then look around the room, shoot me and the office assistant a big smile and close the door behind himself as he walked into his private office.