In her most recent book, The Dying of Politeness: A Memoir, Geena Davis discusses an uncomfortable conversation she had with Bill Murray at an earlier stage in her career.
Davis, 66, says that she has “never talked about it publicly,” referring to the time she spent producing the film Quick Change with Murray, 72, in the same year that she won an Academy Award for The Accidental Tourist in 1989. Murray was 72 years old at the time.
She claims in her book that she was first introduced to the Ghostbusters star in a hotel room, and that Murray allegedly “insisted” on using a massage device on the actress. This is something that she talks about in her book.
Davis says in her book, “I said no numerous times, but he wouldn’t relent,” about the encounter. “I would have had to shout at him and create a commotion in order to get him to stop attempting to compel me to do it; the other guys in the room did nothing to make it stop. I would have had to make a disturbance in order to get him to stop trying to force me to do it.” I was overcome with grief when I realized that I did not yet have the strength to sustain this assault, nor did I have the capacity to just walk out.
Davis claims that Murray “put the item on my back for a total of around two seconds” towards the conclusion of the exchange.
After that, Davis claims that while she was waiting for a wardrobe alteration on the set of the film in New York City, Murray verbally berated her in front of the other cast and crew members. She adds that there were clearly more than 300 people there, and Murray continued to yell at her in front of everyone so that everyone could see and hear it.
Davis tells PEOPLE of Murray, “For publicity, I met him after we produced the movie, but other than that, I haven’t seen him or talked to him.” Murray was one of the actors who played Davis’s father in the film. “I believe that it is pretty much common knowledge that he may be challenging to work with,” she said. Because of this, I do not get the impression that I am blasting him in a manner that will necessarily surprise him. I believe that he has a pretty good understanding of how he should conduct himself.”
In the year 2021, Lucy Liu reflected back on an argument of a similar caliber that she had with Murray when they were filming Charlie’s Angels.
In an interview for the podcast Asian Enough produced by the Los Angeles Times, Liu recalled how she and several of her costars had redone a specific sequence for the film that was released in 2000, but Murray was unable to attend the rehearsal. Liu said that he was agitated and unjustly singled out her character when he returned to the set to film the sequence.
She said, “As we’re performing the scene, Bill begins to kind of hurl insults, and although I won’t go into the details, it continued going on and on.” “As we’re doing the scene, Bill starts to sort of hurl insults.” “I was, like, ‘Wow, he appears like he’s gazing directly at me.’ I found it impossible to imagine that [the remarks] could be directed at me since, at that point in time, what possible bearing did I have on anything that was really significant? I genuinely do the thing where I peek over my shoulder and wonder who he could possibly be talking to behind me. I say, ‘I’m so sorry. Are you talking to me?’ And it’s quite evident that he was, because at that point, we transitioned into a one-on-one dialogue.”
“Some of the language was terrible and inappropriate, and I was not going to just sit there and take it. I was not going to simply sit there and take it. Therefore, I did stick up for myself, and I don’t feel bad about it at all,” Liu said.
In the early part of this year, Murray was accused of engaging in improper conduct while filming the forthcoming movie Being Mortal, which is directed by Aziz Ansari. The actor said in April that he “had a difference of opinion” with a female co-worker on the film, and he referred to their disagreement as “a disagreement.”
In an interview with CNBC, Murray said, “I did something that I thought was hilarious, and it wasn’t perceived that way.”
His statements came after the production of the picture had been halted by Searchlight Pictures as a result of the accusations. “As of right now, we are communicating with one another and attempting to make peace with one another. According to Murray’s observation, “I believe that’s where the true difficulty lies, between our peace.”
He went on to say, “We’re both professionals, and we appreciate the job that the other does.” “I believe that we get along well with one another, and if we can’t genuinely get along with one another and trust one another, there’s no purpose in continuing to work together or creating the movie at all,” she said. It has been a really enlightening experience for me.”
The newly released book, Dying of Politeness, has a chapter that discusses the establishment of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. Davis was recently presented with the Governors Award by the Television Academy in honour of her work with the foundation, which she established in 2004. The award was given “in celebration of their efforts to promote gender balance and cultivate inclusivity across the entertainment industry.”