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Geena Davisreflects on an uncomfortable exchange she had withBill Murrayearly in her career in her new book,Dying of Politeness: A Memoir.
“I’ve never spoken about it publicly,” Davis, 66, tells PEOPLE of her time spent making the filmQuick Changewith Murray, 72, the same year she won an Oscar forThe Accidental Touristin 1989.
In her book, she writes that she was introduced to theGhostbustersactor in a hotel suite, where Murray reportedly “insisted” on using a massage device on the actress.
“I said no multiple times, but he wouldn’t relent,” Davis writes in her memoir. “I would have had to yell at him and cause a scene if I was to get him to give up trying to force me to do it; the other men in the room did nothing to make it stop. I realized with profound sadness that I didn’t yet have the ability to withstand this onslaught — or to simply walk out.”
In the end, Davis says Murray “placed the thing on my back for a total of about two seconds.”
Later, when on the New York set of the film, Davis says Murray verbally berated her in front of the crew as she waited on a wardrobe adjustment. “There were easily more than 300 people there — and Murray was still screaming at me, for all to see and hear,” she writes.
“For publicity, I saw him after we made the movie, but other than that, I haven’t seen him or spoken to him,” Davis tells PEOPLE of Murray. “I figure it’s sort of rather universally known that he could be difficult to work with. And so I don’t feel like I’m busting him in a way that will necessarily shock him. I think he knows very well the way he can behave.”
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A rep for Murray didn’t immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
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In 2021,Lucy Liurecalled a similarly heated exchange with Murray during the making ofCharlie’s Angels.
Speaking to theLos Angeles Times’Asian Enoughpodcast, Liu remembered how she and some costars reworked a particular scene for the 2000 movie but Murray was unable to attend the rehearsal. When he returned to shoot the scene, Liu claimed he was upset and unfairly singled her out.
“Some of the language was inexcusable and unacceptable, and I was not going to just sit there and take it. So, yes, I stood up for myself, and I don’t regret it,” added Liu. "
Earlier this year, Murray wasaccused of inappropriate behavioron the set ofAziz Ansari’s upcoming film,Being Mortal. In April, the actor said that he “had a difference of opinion” with a woman working on the production.
“I did something I thought was funny, and it wasn’t taken that way,” Murray toldCNBC.
“We’re both professionals, we like each others' work,” he continued. “We like each other, I think, and if we can’t really get along and trust each other, there’s no point in going further working together or making the movie as well. It’s been quite an education for me.”
Dying of Politeness, out now, also details the forming ofthe Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. The Television Academy recently awarded Davis with the Governors Award for her work with the foundation, which she founded in 2004, “in recognition of their efforts to promote gender balance and foster inclusion throughout the entertainment industry.”
For more on Geena Davis, pick up this week’s issue ofPEOPLE, on newsstands now.
source: people.com
