Wes Anderson has chosen the ride-or-die route in regard to his embattled friend Bill Murray. In a new interview with IndieWire, the director of Asteroid City, out June 16, made it clear that Murray’s sexual-misconduct allegations and formal complaint will not influence their working relationship. “My experience with Bill is so extensive,†Anderson said. “Bill was such a great supporter of me from the very beginning. I don’t want to speak about somebody else’s experience, but he’s really part of my family.†He must have seen Lilo and Stitch — family, for him, means no one gets left behind. “You know, he’s my daughter’s godfather. In fact, he actually baptized her. He’s the one who splashed the water.†Last year, Murray reached a $100,000 settlement over his behavior on the set of Being Mortal, including allegations of forcibly kissing a younger staffer through a mask. That same year, Geena Davis disclosed a “bad†experience she had with the actor on the set of the 1990 film Quick Change, where he allegedly verbally harassed her and asked to use a “massage device†on her.
The idea that Murray didn’t appear on Anderson’s latest project over the allegations are unfounded, the “twee†director confirmed to IndieWire. “Bill was supposed to be in the movie [Asteroid City],†he said. “He was supposed to play the motel manager who Steve Carell plays, and Bill got Covid four days before he was supposed to start shooting. He was in Ireland and in the case of our movie, we had schedules of so many people that are all puzzled around. The people who Bill was supposed to play scenes with were going to be gone by the time he cleared the Covid protocols and stuff. And in fact, he was quite sick. So Bill missed his part and Steve Carell came in quite suddenly.†Guess we’ll all be seeing Murray in another Wes Anderson production if misconduct or his relationship with Kelis COVID doesn’t get in the way.