The details of the rumored falling out between Bill Murray and Lucy Liu during filming for Charlie’s Angels have finally come to light. The first film installment of the popular franchise—which famously began on TV in the ‘70s—debuted in 2000. The film was directed by McG, and stars Drew Barrymore (who co-produced), Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu, and Bill Murray.
It’s long been rumored that there was an altercation between Murray and Liu while filming Charlie’s Angels. The film, and previous TV series, follows three kick-ass female private detectives affectionately dubbed “Angels" by their millionaire boss, Charlie Townsend. Liu played one of the Angels, Alex Munday, while Murray portrayed Bosley, Charlie’s assistant who serves as the go-between between him and the Angels, who have never seen Charlie in person. The rumors of the altercation between Murray and Liu recently gained some traction again after a Twitter user posted an excerpt from an article that alleged Liu had physically attacked Murray. Murray was replaced with the late comedian Bernie Mac in the 2003 sequel, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle.
Reported by ET Canada, Shaun O’Banion, who was a production assistant on Charlie’s Angels, took to Twitter to respond to the article excerpt and set the record straight. In a Twitter thread, O’Banion explains that while no physical altercation happened, a troubling verbal and emotional one certainly had taken place. O’Banion sees Murray as being entirely in the wrong, but maintains that he had worked with Murray before and both times Murray was gracious to him, personally. O’Banion also ensures that the other two Angels likely went to comfort Liu. Read the thread below:
Though Bill Murray is a celebrated comedian and actor, this isn’t the first time he’s been known to be difficult on set. Despite being a staple actor for venerated directors such as Wes Anderson, Sofia Coppola, and Jim Jarmusch, he has also been said to be troublesome both on and off set by some of his peers. Richard Dreyfuss has called him a “drunken bully,” Harold Ramis (a frequent Murray collaborator and longtime friend) dubbed him “irrationally mean,” and that’s just two examples of even more stories from actors and non-actors. However, not all of the allegations associated with Murray have been proven or corroborated by solid sources and/or evidence.
As far as Liu is concerned, Murray’s distasteful comments about her acting skills didn’t slow her down. Of the three angels, Liu is currently the one that’s doing the most acting these days. Liu recently starred in TV series, Elementary and Why Women Kill, and can be seen in the upcoming Shazam! Sequel, Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
Source: ET Canada, Shaun O'Banion