Bill Murray Explains Why He’s Such A Jerk to His Co-Stars

According to Bill Murray, his reputation for on-set prickliness is simply the result of his remarkable work ethic, which means that he could have just been method acting as a pervert on that Aziz Ansari movie.

At 74 years old, the Saturday Night Live legend and comedy icon has a complicated legacy in the eyes of a general public that once universally adored him. While humor fans of past eras couldn’t conceive of Dr. Peter Venkman ever being anything besides a consummate comedy professional on-set, we have since learned from Murray’s female co-stars and female staffers on his films that Murray’s explosive temper and his extreme touchiness made him the living nightmare of many women in the entertainment business.

Thankfully for Murray, the comedy world has mostly agreed to look the other way when it comes to his workplace misconduct, and during Murray’s appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers yesterday, Murray’s fellow SNL alumn gave him the platform to explain his philosophy on fraternizing with co-stars, as Murray said, “Don’t try to be my friend, we’ve got work to do.”

Considering the fact that Murray recently had to pay out a $100,000 settlement to a former coworker after shutting down an entire film production with his sexual misconduct, I'd say that the advice of “Don't try to be Bill Murray's friend” is on the same level of soundness as “Don't take candy from strangers” and “Don't get on a private plane with Bill Clinton.”

Murray is currently on the press tour for his new crime comedy Riff Raff, in which he co-stars alongside another SNL notable Pete Davidson, and Murray ironically said of the experience of working with the tattooed Staten Island stand-up, “I was frightened at first, I’ll admit that.” Given that it’s usually the co-stars who are frightened of Murray, the actor found his dynamic with Davidson to be a nice change of pace. “It was great, I was alert, you know. And it was good, we took turns being alert, it was cool.”

When Meyers asked Murray if he can immediately tell whether or not he’ll have chemistry with another actor, Murray replied, “Well, I think so, yes. … You can see if someone’s trying, and like trying to control themselves and not just let anything fly out of their mouth or their body.” Actors holding back from expelling something unwanted from their bodies onto their coworkers is, ideally, an unspoken rule, but not in Murray’s world, apparently.

However, as Murray explained, the most important quality a co-star can have is the willingness to work hard and to come to set prepared. “You can’t be friends with an actor unless they do the job first,” Murray said of the effort he expects from other actors. “If you do the job, then we can be friends, and I’d say that Pete and I are friends.”

Based on the harrowing ordeal Murray put Geena Davis through when he made her undergo a hotel room audition for Quick Change while wielding a hand massager, someone should ask Davidson what “job” Murray made him do, and whether he’d like to speak with a therapist, a lawyer or a police officer.