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9 Revelations From Bill Murray's 'Howard Stern' Interview

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Bill Murray is all over the internet today, which means one of two things: He’s got a new movie to promote, or it’s Wednesday. (It’s both.) Murray, the web’s gift that keeps on giving, is making the rounds (as much as Bill Murray “makes the rounds”) supporting his new drama, St. Vincent, in which he stars as a the curmudgeonly next-door neighbor to Melissa McCarthy’s single mother and her preteen son.

One of the more formidable media matchups you could imagine happened today when Murray appeared on The Howard Stern Show. As the Sirius XM host’s loyalists know well, Stern is an ace interviewer: Bill Murray does not typically give himself over to lengthy, soul-searching answers, and yet they rapped for well over an hour.

You can listen to the whole Q&A via Soundcloud, but here are nine of the best highlights:

He’s tight-lipped about what went down at George Clooney’s wedding. The nuptials of George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin have dominated tabloid headlines recently, with Murray’s name popping up on the guest list. It was the very first subject Stern broached, and while Murray explained how he became friends with Clooney – at the Venice Film Festival, where they “tore the place up” (you can hear more on Murray-Clooney shenanigans in our Monuments Men Q&A) ­– he refused to gossip about the event. “It was a moving affair, it really was,” he said. The actor did confirm rumors he gave a toast, but as for why was chosen: “People just got up and said things.”

Bill doesn’t believe the (Oscar) hype. Stern piled on the praise for St. Vincent, calling it one of Murray’s best performances yet (Murray would later say he thought the best film he’s done was Jim Jarmusch’s Broken Flowers). Stern plugged the role as a likely Academy Award contender (which may be overstated). But does he even care? Murray was once a frontrunner to win an Oscar for his single nomination, for 2003’s Lost in Translation, which ultimately went to Sean Penn (Mystic River). He said he hears about his “Oscar buzz” all the time and the most important thing about the accolades is that it means more people will see the movies. As for where he keeps his awards, which include a Golden Globe and Emmy: “They’re all just kind of up on a shelf over there.”

He is not so smart with the smartphone. Murray, who famously insists wannabe collaborators dial up a hard-to-find 1-800 number if they want to work with him, is old-school in more ways than one when it comes to phone systems. He told Stern that yes, he does own a cell phone, but there are limits to what he’ll use it for: “Supposedly it gets email but I have no idea how to operate it,” he said, before adding, “I only got a phone to text to with my sons, because they will not answer a telephone, but they will answer a text.”

About that fistfight with Chevy Chase… After Murray replaced Chevy Chase on Saturday Night Live in 1976, tension ran high when the latter returned to host an episode. What resulted was a now-legendary brawl between the two comedians. “It was a Hollywood fist fight,” Murray said, describing how his diminutive brother, Brian Doyle-Murray, was easily able to separate them. Still, he acknowledged that he was the house favorite against Chase, who SNL cast members felt abandoned them, and has a long-standing reputation for being difficult. “People were not discouraged that I got into a fight with him,” he said diplomatically.

His all-time favorite SNL player will probably surprise you. Murray said he still tapes SNL (though usually watches it on delay) and recounted some of his favorite primetime players from various casts: Eddie Murphy, Dana Carvey, Mike Myers, Will Ferrell. But when Stern mentioned Bill Hader, who he had been on the show the day before, Murray dropped the ultimate compliment: “Bill Hader probably did the best work anybody ever did on that show… It took him a little while to get going, but when he got rolling, it was extraordinary.”

About replacing the late John Belushi in Ghostbusters Stern brought up the fact that the 1984 sci-fi comedy is one of Murray’s favorites in his canon, but mentioned it would never been his movie had his good friend and fellow Chicagoan John Belushi not passed away. “Did that bother you that they originally wanted to go with Belushi?,” Stern asked, to which Murray replied perfectly: “It bothered me more that John died.”

Yes, he made peace with Harold Ramis. When Murray’s Ghostbusters and Stripes co-star died tragically in February at the age of 69, pundits commented on what a shame it was that the two had suffered a falling out and never worked together again after the 1994 modern classic Groundhog Day. Asked point-blank if they’d ever buried the hatchet, Murray affirmed: “Yeah, we made our peace… We made our peace a couple years ago.”

He got his revenge on Roger Ebert for early negative reviews. “He killed me early on,” Murray said about the late, great Chicago Sun-Times critic. “He knew I was a Chicago guy and he cut me absolutely no slack.” Years later, though, at the Cannes Film Festival, Murray would serve him a cold dish. During a press conference for Broken Flowers, Murray said Ebert complimented his dramatic performance. “I said, ‘That’s really nice, because I was told when I was young that I should never be allowed to do anything but comedy.’ And he bit, and he said, ‘Who said that?’ I said, ‘You did, Roger.’”

About the iconic parts he may or may not have turned down… There is an entire website devoted to famous roles famous actors are rumored to have turned down or didn’t get. Stern asked Murray about a handful of them, and got… a little bit of clarity. On whether he turned down Tom Cruise’s role in Rain Man: “Yeah, there was something about Rain Man.” On the Arnold Schwarzenegger part in Kindergarten Cop: “I don’t think so.” The Denzel Washington role in Philadelphia: “You’re warm with that one… I would’ve liked to have done that.” And finally, Tom Hanks’ Oscar-winning part in Forrest Gump: “I did have Forrest Gump conversations.” So there you go.

Photo: AP