Bill Murray Changed His Entire Career With One Movie
These days, Bill Murray is a certified icon. Whether you know him best from his comedic efforts like Saturday Night Live or Ghostbusters, his dramatic roles like Lost In Translation or Ed Wood, or just from popping up in random P.F. Changs restaurants around the world, the actor has almost surely put a smile on your face.
Of course, long before Murray was seen as a multi-hyphenate, he completely blew audiences away, changing the trajectory of his career as we know it by performing in the Wes Anderson film Rushmore.
Rushmore Changed Bill Murray’s Acting Career Forever
1998’s Rushmore is the first of many collaborations between Wes Anderson and Bill Murray, beginning a long and fruitful artistic relationship that continues to thrive to this day. In the years since, Murray has appeared in 10 of Anderson’s 11 films, including every outing the filmmaker has delivered except his debut, 1996’s Bottle Rocket.
Though the pair have become an inseparable force in the pop culture zeitgeist, there was a time when it shocked audiences to see Bill Murray taking on serious roles in Wes Anderson’s growing catalog.
Rushmore Allowed Bill Murray To Finally Showcase His Range
Murray had previously made a name for himself by leaning on his endlessly sarcastic performances and acerbic wit, delivering a sort of live-action Bugs Bunny routine in many of his roles.
If he had played his cards close to his chest, he could have reveled in silly roles for the remainder of his career, and never reached the artistic heights he desired. Once Murray collaborated with Wes Anderson, he began to display an incredible range, proving to audiences that he was capable of a wide array of talent.
Bill Murray As Herman Blume
Rushmore was the first outing that delivered on this promise, seeing Bill Murray as a resigned businessman suffering from existential dread, while still holding out hope that things could get better. Murray’s portrayal against Jason Schwartzman’s up-and-coming student provided a surprising amount of depth, likely resulting from Murray’s kinship to the character.
As the story goes, Bill Murray fell in love with the writing of the script so much that he volunteered to do the film for the lowest union-approved salary of $9,000.
Murray’s Performance Lauded
Bill Murray chose to take on the staggering pay cut because he believed in the film, and the filmmaker, and insisted that the film’s budget could be better used elsewhere. This level of selfless artistry seemed incredibly out-of-character for fans of Murray’s work prior to 1998, as he so often portrayed selfish and unaffected characters in his films. When the film eventually premiered, Murray’s performance was hailed as a career high, and still holds a place in the hearts and minds of many fans to this day.
Wes Anderson Movies
The actor’s future collaborations with Wes Anderson would see him taking on a host of complicated characters across a wide spectrum of empathy. Like many acclaimed directors, Wes Anderson is known to work with a cast of recurring favorites, with Bill Murray taking arguably the lead spot on his list. This may all have never been possible if it weren’t for Bill Murray’s deep devotion to Rushmore, and the character of Herman J. Blume.
