Geena Davis has detailed former co-star Bill Murray’s allegedly ‘inappropriate’ on set behavior in a new interview just months after first revealing the alleged incidents in memoir Dying Of Politeness.
She explained: ‘I went to meet with Bill Murray and his co-director and a producer in a hotel suite. And, uh, I came in and went to sit down with everybody sitting there. But Bill Murray popped up and said, “Hey, have you ever tried the thumper?” And I’m like, “What? No. What’s that?” “Well come try it.” “No, no, no.”‘
DailyMail.com has reached out to representatives for Davis. Murray has no publicist, manager, or agent.
Geena Davis has detailed former co-star Bill Murray’s ‘inappropriate’ on set behavior in a new interview just months after first revealing the alleged incidents in memoir Dying Of Politeness.
Not pleasant: The 66-year-old actress starred alongside the 72-year-old comedian on 1990 crime comedy Quick Change and talked about the alleged harassment in a new On With Kara Swisher podcast interview
Davis said that Murray went on to point to the bed where there was ‘giant massage device with big handles on it,’ as he allegedly told her: ‘Lay down here. I wanna try it on you.
‘I’m like, “No, no, no thank you.” And he keeps at it. And I keep saying “No” to the point where I would’ve had to scream at him, “Stop f***ing asking me! I am not doing it. Do you understand?” Which I was far too timid to do.
‘So I perched on the corner of the bed and let him do it, and he did it for like one second, and then didn’t ask how I liked it or anything. So I realized it was just to see if he could force me to do something inappropriate’
Davis also claimed that the co-director and producer who were also in the hotel suite did not do or say anything to stop him.
She (pictured in October) explained: ‘I went to meet with Bill Murray and his co-director and a producer in a hotel suite. And, uh, I came in and went to sit down with everybody sitting there. But Bill Murray popped up and said, “Hey, have you ever tried the thumper?” And I’m like, “What? No. What’s that?” “Well come try it.” “No, no, no.”‘
She explained: ‘And I looked to them hoping they would say, “Come on, Bill, give it up” or something.’
Davis also talked about another incident – which she also touched on in her memoir – that she claims happened during the first day of filming.
The League Of Their Own actress said: ‘We were shooting a huge scene out on an intersection in Manhattan with hundreds of extras and giant crew and all that stuff. And they said, “We’re ready for you to come to set.” And I said, “Well, costumes asked me to wait here one second. Can I do that, or should I come with you?”
The star explained that she was given permission by the assistant director to stay in the trailer and wait for the wardrobe.
Davis said: ‘Seconds later, Bill Murray — in a full clown costume, by the way — slams into the trailer with rage coming out of his eyeballs and starts screaming at me and swearing at me, “Get the f*** out there! What the f*** are you doing? Move! Move!” And he got behind me and screamed in my ear, “Move! Move faster! Move it!” And we’re getting to this intersection where there’s hundreds of people watching this, and he keeps it up and keeps it up until he says, “Stand there” and points to a mark on the pavement and starts shooting.’
‘Talking about it actually, it’s still — it’s very emotional for me because I felt so ashamed’: Davis also talked about another incident – which she also touched on in her memoir – that she claims happened during the first day of filming, pictured in October
She explained that the moment had her ‘literally shaking’ and that it still isn’t easy to talk about.
Davis concluded: ‘Talking about it actually, it’s still — it’s very emotional for me because I felt so ashamed, you know, for somebody who wants to do things right. You know?’
Back in October, Davis first made the same shocking claims in her memoir Dying Of Politeness as she described how Murray allegedly created an uncomfortable atmosphere during her audition for the film, which he starred in and also co-directed with Howard Franklin.
According to her, Murray also screamed at her in front of ‘hundreds’ of people on set because she was allegedly late, though she says she was merely delayed by the wardrobe department.
Bad time: Back in October, Davis first made the same shocking claims in her memoir Dying Of Politeness as she described how Murray allegedly created an uncomfortable atmosphere during her audition for the film, which he starred in and also co-directed with Howard Franklin; seen in 2019 in LA
The book read: ‘[Davis is] introduced to [Murray], she writes, in a hotel suite, where Murray greets her with something called The Thumper, a massage device he insists on using on her, despite her emphatically refusing.’
The concerning encounter was followed up by a more humiliating incident when the Royal Tenenbaums actor allegedly lost his temper while filming Quick Change.
‘Later, while they’re filming on location, Murray tracks Davis down in her trailer and begins screaming at her for being late (she’s waiting for her wardrobe), continues to scream at her as she hurries onto the set and even as she gets there, in front of hundreds of cast, crew, curious passers-by,’ the publication added.
‘That was bad,’ Davis said of her audition with Murray as she mused about how she might have handled the incident differently.
Hard time: She wrote that Murray — who also co-directed the film —pressured her into using a massage device on her, and he later screamed at her in front of ‘hundreds’ of people on set for allegedly being late; she is seen in December
Unacceptable: ‘The way he behaved at the first meeting… I should have walked out of that or profoundly defended myself,’ she told The Times of London, before admitting that she was victim blaming; seen September 12 in LA
‘The way he behaved at the first meeting… I should have walked out of that or profoundly defended myself, in which case I wouldn’t have got the part. I could have avoided that treatment if I’d known how to react or what to do during the audition. But, you know, I was so non-confrontational that I just didn’t…’ she said.
However, she conceded that her words could be construed as victim blaming when it was pointed out to her.
‘Ha. Point taken. There’s no point in regretting things, and yet, here I was regretting. And yes, exactly, it wasn’t my fault,’ she said.
So far, Murray has not responded publicly to Davis’ remarks, either in the interview or in her book.
A pattern: Last year, the actress Lucy Liu also described the verbal abuse Murray allegedly threw at her while they worked together on the action comedy Charlie’s Angels; seen in July 2021 in Cannes, France
Last year, the actress Lucy Liu also described the verbal abuse Murray allegedly threw at her while they worked together on the action comedy Charlie’s Angels.
‘As we’re doing the scene, Bill starts to sort of hurl insults, and I won’t get into the specifics, but it kept going on and on,’ she described on the Asian Enough podcast.
The film and television star, who called the former Saturday Night Live star’s insult ‘unacceptable’ and ‘inexcusable,’ added that she ‘was not going to just sit there and take it.’
‘So, yes, I stood up for myself and I don’t regret it. Because no matter how low on the totem pole you may be or wherever you came from, there’s no need to condescend or to put other people down. And I would not stand down, and nor should I have,’ she added defiantly.
Murray’s alleged behavior on set appears to have put the fate of his upcoming film Being Mortal in jeopardy.
On hold: In April 2021, his film Being Mortal was suspended due to a complaint about his allegedly inappropriate behavior. He stars with director Aziz Ansar, Seth Rogen and Keke Palmer; Murray, Randy Quaid and Davis seen in Quick Change
In April 2021, Searchlight Pictures suspended production on the film, which was being directed by Aziz Ansari, due to complaints about Murray’s inappropriate behavior on set, though no details were offered up about what he had allegedly done or who was affected.
The film is reportedly still on pause, and it’s unclear if it will ever be finished at this point.
The film, which also starred Ansari, Keke Palmer and Seth Rogen, was shopped around for a potential new buyer earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival, but it doesn’t appear to have found a new studio, according to Rolling Stone.
‘I did something I thought was funny, and it wasn’t taken that way,’ Murray said while speaking to CNBC later in April.
Changes: He added that the experience has been ‘quite an education for me,’ before noting that, ‘world is different than it was when I was a little kid’; seen in February in Pebble Beach
‘The company, the movie studio, wanted to do the right thing, so they wanted to check it all out, investigate it. and so they stopped the production,’ he explained. ‘
But as of now, we’re talking and we’re trying to make peace with each other. I think that’s where the real issue is, between our peace. We’re both professionals. We like each other’s work. We like each other, I think, and if you can’t really get along and trust each other, there’s no point in going further working together or making a movie as well.’
He added that the experience has been ‘quite an education for me,’ before noting that, ‘world is different than it was when I was a little kid.’
