Happy Sad Confused - Bill Murray & Mitch Glazer (Comic-Con)

Episode Date: July 13, 2015

On a very special episode of Happy Sad Confused, Josh shares a live recording of the Rock the Kasbah Comic-Con panel featuring the man, the myth, and the legend Bill Murray in his first Comic-Con appearance and Mitch Glazer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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I'm Josh Harwitz. This is my podcast, and this is the podcast that wasn't supposed to happen. This was supposed to be a week off from the podcast because I spent the last bunch of days in San Diego for crazy, crazy San Diego Comic-Con. If you're a listener to this podcast, you probably know what that means. But just in case, that's the event every year where every major TV show, film, comic book, genre property of any sort gathers and ginormous movie stars gather and, well, you know, I don't know. Why am I even explaining it? Anyway, I've been going for the last eight years for MTV and I went again this year and it's a super hectic time. And because of that, I just knew I wasn't going to be able to produce a podcast for you guys this week. but fate intervened and this is a fun story this is a really special meaningful story for me

and I hope you'll get as much a kick out of it as I did going through it what we're going to run this week on Happy Second Fused is a panel that I moderated featuring Bill Murray in his very first Comic-Con appearance This, I mean, it kind of was a huge deal. I'm going to be honest, at least for me, and I think for the crowd. He came to Hall H, which is the infamous, ginormous 6,000-plus seat theater. It's the biggest theater in Comic-Con. This was the first panel of Comic-Con.

And he, it was shrouded in mystery. It wasn't advertised. In fact, we didn't even know for sure if Bill was going to make it until Wednesday night. I found out, we found out, when I say me and Open Road, the studio behind Bill's new movie, Rock the Casbah, that Bill had indeed gotten on a plane and was on his way. The thing about Bill Murray, as you know, as you probably know, is, you know, he marches to the beat of his own drummer. He does not have a publicist. He does not have a team. He really flies by the seat of his pants, and this was no different. So it was really remarkable. This, open road was kind enough to invite me to do this afternoon. just a few days ago when it seemed like it might happen.

And I immediately said yes and rearranged some things. And it was Mitch Glazer, the writer of Rock the Casbah. This is a cool new film opening in October. You'll hear all about it in the panel. That is directed by Barry Levinson. And it's about a kind of a has-been rock promoter, a music promoter, rather, who takes his act to Afghanistan, Zoe Deschanel and gets mixed up with Bruce Willis St. Danny McBride and it's fun and you'll hear, as I said, you'll hear about it in the panel and

you'll hear about it down the line. But anyway, like up until game time, we didn't know what was happening, Bill had some ideas, Mitch had some ideas, and suddenly I found myself with Mitch Glazer and this icon, Bill Murray, who had met a handful of times, but never in a substantial way, going through ideas. Bill was asking me what I thought, how should the panel go? How much should he do in character? Um, and it was, it was just me, Mitch and Bill just talking in a corner for a bunch of minutes and it was, uh, it was pretty amazing. And then the panel happened and it was, it went great. And I'm not patting myself on the back. It's really to the credit of Bill and the crowd who asked a ton of great questions. And, um, and I just thought

it was worth sharing. This is, you know, this is something worthy of people beyond just the 6,000 in the room. And I think you'll enjoy it if you're a fan of Bill Murray. And if you listen to this podcast, I know you are. So to set the scene, as you hear at the beginning of this, Bill Murray has just taken the stage in character as his character from Rock the Casbah, dressed head to toe in character. He has just sung smoke on the water, and he's still in character. And then he'll bring me out and it'll shift into kind of a more conventional conversation

by Bill Murray standards, at least. since this is a live event here some of the visual stuff you'll miss Bill riffing on people he's talking to in the crowd but you're going to get 99% of it and it's a really great conversation and it's it was honestly a huge privilege to be a part of it and to spend a couple hours

in the company Bill Murray my God got a chance to spend some time with him afterwards and with Mitch and Mitch's wife the lovely Kelly Lynch and Bill did another interview with me on camera later. And it was just a really, really special day. And I'm happy to be able to share it with you guys. So keep an eye out for Rock the Casbot.

It opens October 23rd. Enjoyed this conversation with Bill Murray and Mitch Glazer. And as always, hit me up on Twitter, Joshua Harowitz, is my handle. Go over to MTV.com for tons of Comic-Con content. interviewed a ton of folks, including past happy, sad, confused guests, like, oh, my God, I don't even know where to begin. Miles Teller and Kay Morrow, a ton of people. I mean, we really talked to Jessica Chastain and Tom Hiddleston, and truly, I don't know where to begin. Go to MTV.com.

Search San Diego Comic-Con, and you'll see a ton, a ton of fun stuff. But for now, let's give Bill Murray the stage, as only he can take it. this is a special one. Enjoy guys. Good morning. How many of you were up all night? Raise your hand. Has anyone got anything left?

Because I'm all out. I'm all out. I got nothing. I've got a lot to say, but I don't really know how to phrase it. There's like a guy here who's got a notepad. He's going to ask questions. Let's let him do his thing. Let's not mess with him, okay? He's Josh Horowitz. He's okay. He's okay. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Richie Lanz, give it up. One more time. The writer of Rock the Casbah, Mr. Mitch Glazer, give it up.

My name is Josh Horowitz. I'm with MTV. And welcome to the very first Hall-H panel of the 2015 Comic-Con. Now, Richie, obviously I work at MTV, so I know your career really well. But for those that aren't so familiar with it, can you educate us a little bit about who you are and what you've done? Well, I'm rock and roll, Josh. That's what I am. I'm rock and roll. And, you know, it's like I was saying, you're up all night and you run out, you're still got to keep going, are right? and sometimes it's all going your way

and sometimes you know you just got to scrap a little bit you've got to get gritty. Words to live by, right? Yeah, write some of this stuff down. I don't want to bring up an unpleasant subject but there's been a lot of conjecture about who you've actually managed in your career whether, well I mean, let me just put it to you bluntly.

Who have you managed? I don't understand. the question. I'm not going to, okay. I mean, I'm out there. I mean, I'm out there. Okay. Mitch,

tell us a little bit about this collaboration and how this came about. Well, there was only one person to play Richie Lans, the legendary rock promoter, and his name is and was Bill Murray. Ladies and gentlemen.

Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have to give a proper Comic-Con welcome the very first appearance at Comic-Con for Mr. Bill Murray. Give it off. Let's do it. I'm all about hydrating. I really am. I mean, if you want to stay at the party, you've got to hydrate. You know, there's got to be balance.

Got to be. I mean, we started the morning with some bagels and some tequila. But then water. Okay, then water. It's a rookie mistake to skip the water. It's a rookie mistake. steak to skip water. Oh, yeah, amateur night. No kidding. Bill, uh, you've arguably had some films in your career that would have had a proper place at Comic-Con. What the hell took you so long? Why has it

taken so long to get here? Well, I don't know. I've done some, I've done some good ones. And, uh, I've done some comical ones, I guess, and I've done some that I may, maybe should have been convicted for. So I, you know, I, I, I feel like I, I, I feel like I, fit in. I feel like I could fall down in any one of these aisles right here and be left alone until I awoke. This crowd will take care of you

should anything arise, I think. Mitch, you go a ways back with Mr. Bill Murray, I know. Let's give it up, by the way. Every Christmas time, a lot of people watch It's a Wonderful Life. I watch Scrooge.

Mitch is a co-writer of amazing film that Bill starred in that was your first collaboration correct yes it was the first thing Bill and I ever did they wrote together professionally but um we'd met years before up at Saturday Night Live I was up there with friends and met Bill he was introduced to me by John Belushi as the new kid Bill Murray um so it goes back away and um but yeah scrooge is the first thing but his actual best work was he sang every verse of brandy you're a fine girl at my wedding, which lasted, I mean, there's still people at the wedding waiting for it to end, I think. But we, yeah, we've been some that don't want it to end. Come on, looking glass, everybody, looking

glass. It was great. But yeah, and this, you know, this came from, this movie, Rock the Casbah, came from a misspent lifetime of being around rock and roll, rock and roll promoters, and kind of a chance to actually tell the story of a, of a, of a, of a, of a, of a, flailing broken-down rock promoter. And I don't know if you guys remember, but there was a moment early on in SNL where Bill played a character called Jerry Aldini, which was kind of a sleazy rock guy

who always was on the backstage list and stuff. And this character is Aldini three or four decades later. And it hasn't gone well, unfortunately. But yeah, it was a long time in the making. And to Bill's credit, he jumped in immediately and we had a blast doing it. It was great. Bill, have you known managers in your time that have inspired this character, this portrayal?

Yeah. I mean, if you've ever tried to get in the side door of any venue, you've met a guy like this character a little bit. There's a wonderful guy named Ron Delsner that's just a pathological liar who's a wonderful guy who represents Van Morrison. He brings Van Morrison to the USA. and my job is to go cheer van Morrison up before he goes on stage because he's a moody Irishman he's from the north you know it doesn't the son he's moody he just is and it's a long ride he flies him over to play st patrick's day at the irving place every year in in new york city my job is to cheer up van you know which is which you do it's which i do but it's kind of

hilarious he's a he looks like he's a hockey goalie you know and he's he's a growler and he plays 45 minutes and no seconds. That's his act. It's like 45 minutes, no seconds. There's actually a time clock on the stage. But he's great. He's the greatest songwriter, Van Morrison, and it's kind of fun. It's a challenge to go and cheer up like a kind of a sour guy that's been in business class all the way across the ocean. I've got to give also props. I got a chance to see this film. It's a great piece of work, and it's an amazing ensemble that is alongside you, Bill, and this one We've got Zoe de Chanel, Kate Hudson, Bruce Willis. How does a cast like that come together?

I mean, is that something, Bill, where you're calling folks up? Or are you, Mitch? No, it really is, it comes down to Bill. I mean, Barry Levinson is a wonderful director, you know, Rain Man and the Natural and Diner, amazing director and did a beautiful job. But, I mean, if we thought about it, my producing partner here, is Steve Bing is here, is that once Bill is doing it, people kind of gravitate to, the idea of the movie. And Danny McBride and Scott Khan and, you know, there's a generation

and particularly of young comic actors who, you know, came over for basically nothing to do the movie. And we had a great time together. I mean, you know, Billy had a party bus with disco lighting in Morocco and we were driving around during Ramadan and, you know, making friends where we went. There's no traffic. It's a good time. It really is a good time to do this. So, Bill, when you're walking around, like, Morocco, is the reception different than, say, San Diego or New York or L.A.? You get a lot more Salaam al-Aqum. Less drinking. There's less public drinking in Morocco.

Right. The people there are really nice. I strongly, you know, Morocco's a great place to go. People are very gentle. It's a Muslim country, but they're the sort of, there are people that seem to, I like their interpretation of the book, you know. They're gentle, lovely people. It's a beautiful place, very dramatic, a lot of history,

cool places to stay, great beach towns. You know, there's off-road stuff if you want to do that, you know. What's you, do you have a default technique for? Okay, so when you're working with people you haven't worked with before, I would think there is, whether you know it or not, and I think you do, there is a mystique, an aura, a legend of Mr. Bill Murray that I would think would intimidate some actors. Do you

go out, like what's your technique? Do you like to put them in their place and make them feel intimidated or do you try to disarm that? Well, I go to work with a knife strapped to my leg. And it just means people are going to know their lines. They're going to be ready to go. If they're not, you know, don't mess with me. Don't

fuck with me, Francis, you know. Just show up. We try to be as relaxed as possible. It's really the key for the way I like to work is be really, really as relaxed as you can be. And that makes people feel comfortable. And I grew up in a sort of, I came from Chicago and the Second City Theater where, you know, we were taught by a great director named Del Close to, you know, you don't have to get tense when you're working. You just try to think about making the other person look good.

And then you don't have to worry about yourself. Right. And that's the way I've learned to work. And when people see, holy cow, he's not going to try and hammer me or upstate. me or anything he wants to make me look good then everybody relaxes and we had a lot of fun we had good people i mean danny mcbride is just an insanely crazy talented guy he's really wonderful and the girls zoie de chanelle was really really really good and kate hudson was awesome she was spectacular and bruce willis um in the role of a lifetime is uh uh we own him now he had so much fun we own him

Yeah, he seems to be in an altered state in this film that's kind of frightening. Yeah, I don't think... And in life. He had a really good time, and, you know, it was fun working with him. I got to work with him on Wes Anderson's movie, The Moonrise Kingdom, Moonrise Kingdom, and we had a good time together. Turns out we have an ancient history that I wasn't aware of, that he was aware of. So we get on great.

Wait, what's the ancient history? Well, when I was on Saturday Night Live, Bruce was a page which means it's sort of like it's a job you take where you're kind of a slave, it's like an intern slave, and his job was actually to refill the

M&M and peanut bowls in the actor's dressing rooms and I'm years later after a few tequila, he said only you and Gilder were nice to me you were the only one so but he's he's all right, he's okay

we had a fun time Like I say, Morocco, I'm just saying, it's reasonable. It's thrifty. You know, it's not exactly like sleeping underneath Petco Park, but it's pretty good, you know? Is that what you're staying tonight? You're staying underneath Petco? You've got to move on. You can't stay in the same place every night.

You know what I'm saying? Am I right? Can't sleep in the same place every night. About this collaboration. We think a lot of directors, a lot of writers write parts specifically for you, and that can be great, and that can also be... Terrible. Do you find that to be the case when you read things that are intended for you that people are just going into things you've already played, or what's the trap that people

are full? I have read scripts that people insist, I've written this script exactly for you, and I read the script and I realize, yeah, these are all my lines from other movies. They really, I mean, it's pretty naked. But when you're thinking sort of, when you lose yourself and you're writing for an actor, I mean, you can sort of visualize one maybe, but you want to write the story that's inside you. You know, you want to write your story.

You know, whether or not, you know, Judy Dench plays the part or Pierce Brosman and it shouldn't make any difference. You know, you just write the part you want to write. And Mitch is, you know, we've written a lot of things together and, well, he writes them and I rewrite him is what really happens. Do the punctuation? He's not in the guild. I'm not, I'm in the guild, but I don't take the credit. That's another good tip for you, young people. Don't bother to take the credit.

Get away with a lot more if you don't want to write in credit. You really do. But, you know, this rock and roll world, we've all, you know, being on Saturday Night Live and being friends with Paul Schaefer and all those people who see beneath the rock of rock and roll, they see just all the crazy stories. You know, you see a lot, you witness a lot. And if you've been backstage, you see bizarre, bizarre behavior. And I see these guys, his character, as almost like one of those RAF fighter pilots after their day is over. I mean, you know, the music has changed so much and, you know, record business is kind of collapsed in a lot of ways. And for a guy like Richie Lance to, you know, have the, I mean, he ends up taking his last, his secretary and last act to Afghanistan, not like the ideal gig really that you're looking for.

So, I mean, just the heroism of this guy, you know, staying the course and constantly through the course of the movie saying, I'm going to close this deal, you know, with armed rebels on horseback. was fun to write about, and Bill and I just did a movie with Sophia Coppola, a Christmas thing that she's directed, where he actually does get a writing credit much of my horror. And so, you know, we have written together. It turns out you get paid in perpetuity. It's crazy. He gets paid for forever.

He's never going to stop now. It's only about 70 bucks, but it's nice. The thought that counts. Yeah, it's the credit. So I knew him long enough and well enough to know, never say, I wrote this for you, just gave him the script, and he jumped on, and it involves singing, which is always an easy way to get Bill to do anything, just to, you give him smoke on the water. Do you sing every day, Bill? Do you have to practice your instrument every day?

I sing every day. Sometimes I sing really quietly, very quietly. No, I don't sing every day, but I have a friend who bothers me, he said, you should be singing. You should be singing today. she was not from America okay she's not she's not I don't like pick up people like that you know because they sound funny she's from Thailand he's why aren't you singing more so I'm gonna sing more or else I'm gonna sing more would anyone like to sing anything right now is there something you'd like to sing if we could all just take like 30 seconds everyone has a song they'd like to sing let's just all sing the song you'd like to sing for 30 seconds okay We try this.

I've never done this. Let's try this for 30 seconds. One, a two, a one, two, three. Happy bird. A water. I can start a fire in the sky. How the music is making. Happy bird.

When I am my chance, dear bill. I can make the people. And, for a while. I hope it's being recorded. You know, I don't want to overstate this, but I think we just invented a new art form, like an actual... A mass singer. I don't know if you heard it, but it sounded really good. It really did.

It sounded very, very joyous, really good. Thank you. I owe you. This film, correct me if I'm wrong, this is, this is... This is partially based on a true story. I mean, Afghan Star is an actual TV show in the... Yeah, when I was doing the research for it, one of the gifts of doing research is the real world is untappable.

There actually is a version of American Idol in Afghanistan, and it's been there for eight years now, eight seasons, and a friend of ours actually has a TV show that does it. And in a city and a country that's really, obviously, been at war for a quarter of a century, this thing was the one thing that people could unite around so they were text in

just like American Idol their favorite singers and it did break down into Posh tune and the various groups but they could unite around the music of it which really suited the theme

of the movie and we got Yusuf Islam Kat Stevens to give us some songs and I mean it ends with peace train a spectacular version of it and so yes

it is based on a true story and there was in the second or third season of Afghan Star, the first woman, a Pashtun woman, to come up and sing, and she was warned not to sing or dance, and there were death threats against her, but she had the courage to do it, and she didn't win, but she was an astounding talent, and broke a lot of ground. I mean, it was, you know, really amazing story, and we dedicate the movie to her, and, and our character, a character's name of Salima, is played by Liam Lubani, who's, uh, and, uh, and we dedicate

who was at the time, a 17-year-old Palestinian girl from Nazareth, a great singer and, you know, amazing actress, and she and Bill are spectacular together. So that is one of the deeper stories of the film is the empowerment of this woman and also, you know, the ability for the culture to change, hopefully. I'm curious, Bill, I mean, we were talking a little bit

about musical taste. Like, do you connect at all to music today or your taste sort of stuck where they were, you know, a lot of people, they're stuck when they come age or like when they're 20 or something no i mean i still like music that i heard when i was 20 and some of it's you know we'll obviously it's lived a long time it still is great but um you know i i like music i don't care where it's coming from jenny lewis we love um we were with our friend jenny lewis the last few days and she's a great singer from uh california we were i did go see the grateful dead's last show in chicago yeah sunday but i went with jenny louis

And we were backstage with dubious other rock and roll characters. But there were a lot of fun people, Woody Harrelson. But, yeah, I mean, I like this band, are they called Double X or X. I think they're cool. I accidentally saw them in Nashville. I thought they were great. This fellow, Chris Stapleton, the young singer guy. I don't know.

I just like what I like. I'm not tied down to it. I listen to Channel 15, you know. I listen to The Pulse and I listen to Chill. Okay. And we'll be... No, it's a mood swing thing with me. I go pulse, I go chill. And we'll be hearing this next collaboration, you're singing some Christmas songs, presumably. And we did this goofy Christmas show, which was kind of a great story that we wrote.

And we had a bunch of unusual people in it. We had old school guys. We had Buster Poindexter, Davis Johansson. From Scrooge. From Scrooge. We had Jenny Lewis. We had Rashida Jones. Phoenix. Phoenix, the band Phoenix. We had Paul Schaefer, Jason Schwartzeman. Of course, yeah.

Miley Cyrus. Then out of nowhere comes Miley Cyrus. Incredible. I got to say, I'm going to say it's officially, Molly Cyrus is good. I thought, I was not particularly convinced. Miley Cyrus is really fucking good. She can really sing.

You know, I thought she was just a knucklehead crazy girl and kind of like, you know, kind of girl you'd want to go on a road trip with and maybe didn't have ID or something, you know, but she can really sing. And she floored everybody. She just floored everybody. Paul Schaefer and George Clooney, all these guys like, holy Christ, she's really good. Yeah. She really can sing.

So I don't want to hear more bad rapping of Miley Cyrus, okay? Leave it for, well, who should we leave it for? Raise your hand. Who should we leave it for? But now Miley Cyrus. She's a right. He's a pro. we're going to let the audience ask a few questions in a second but uh indulge me yeah we'll leave it for

rick ross ross is the guy we can run down since it is comic con indulge me i have one comic conny question war there's a lot of war about your career one is that you were up for han solo way back when well i don't know if you've heard bill they are recasting han solo in a prequel so i guess what i'm saying is was it true were you ever up for han solo and be are you still up for taking on the role today? Oh, God, it's a big moment for me. I know. I don't know that I was ever up for Han Solo.

I couldn't tell you for sure, but I am working out now in the hopes of getting this new thing. Yeah. You know, just a lot of swimming and Pilates. I'm really going to work hard at it. I would expect there are a few questions from this audience. Are we ready for a question or two? My God, a spotlight, too. Cool.

That's scary. Only Jesus, it's Superman. I can see you. Just shout. Can you hear me? Oh, okay, here we go. Hey, Bill, I know you like to sing like we saw today, and I know Zoe likes to sing in Ruck the Kahn.

Do you guys do like a, like your own little song together or something freestyle in the movie? Well, I sing, I sing in the shower. I sing Can't Find My Way Home by those guys. And Zoe sings, I'm a bitch, I'm a woman, you know that song? She kills it. She does a great job. She really kills it. She can really sing.

Actually, we had a rap party on a. a galleon, a ship, literally, like an old-fashioned three-masted ship that they've turned into a bar somewhere in Morocco. And they had, and so they had a, what do you call it, you know, it was a karaoke night, right? So she chooses to sing, we are the world as her karaoke song. Do you know how hard it is to sing that song? Try it sometime. It's in, it's up there to sing it. And she's got to imitate like 14 to the greatest, she's got to sing the

pitches and the keys and notes of like 14 of the greatest singers in America. It's a staggering piece of work. So if she died tomorrow, I'd say her karaoke work will live forever. But you have another question, because you walked a long way.

I'd just say, thank you for being here. We're so happy to have you here. Thank you. Thank you. Oh, my God, it's another one of my cousins. And, oh, there's the mic. Hi, guys. I have a question involving Richie Lanz's managerial standards, Mr. Murray. Would he consider ever taking on, like, say, a classical act or like a juggler or possibly a unicorn?

only if there's money involved I mean it's all contractual but everyone's looking for a unicorn we all are everyone in the management business is looking for a unicorn have you got something you'd like to sing it's this instant it's a small world

After all, it's a slow. Great, great. Okay, thank you. Great. Stop what you're doing. It's great. Don't change a thing. Don't change a thing.

Oh, God, I can do this forever. You're next. Hello, Bill Murray. How are you? I'm good. How are you doing? I'm doing fantastic, especially here with you. I'm going to be camping out again tonight, so you're welcome to sleep with me outside Hall H. Okay. Mitch, my question is for you.

I'm still having that picture in my head. Sorry, I got... But I was wondering if trying to get him to say the lines that you were. actually wrote was hard or if he just goes on and on in his own way here's the thing he there's a myth about he's he's very good with with the script he does uh i was saying to my writing partner on scrooge who was going mental because every time bill would change anything i'd say it's it gets better but you know so we should be thrilled with that and and he is wonderful at it but at this point i do i do understand i do know his voice after writing for him with him for all

these years so it's pretty close to what it is but it gets better you know on the the day and, you know, Barry Levinson had the occasional idea and all that. But no, he's very respectful of writers and SNL comes up that way. That's how it is. He doesn't change a word, is what I'm trying to say. Not one. We love that kind of collaboration. Thank you guys. Thank you. Thank you. How many guys does, how many people is she asking to sleep with her? That's what I want to know. I mean, does everyone give her a button when they leave? What's the deal? I mean, I want to feel a little bit special, you know? Okay.

Hi, so my name is Jonah. I just want to say first that your comedy's really gotten me through a lot of hard stuff. And I just, what I was wondering was with a film, like, with a film, like, a film like this what was maybe the best or funniest part of filming it like maybe a favorite memory well it's really when you go to a place that's so foreign you're on another continent you know you're on another continent you're in another culture a combination culture country that's been invaded by the french and the spanish and the berbers you know they live there You know, they've had their own wars.

You know, you feel the wind get pulled from the ocean by the Sahara. The Sahara pulls the moist air to the desert. It's an extraordinary sensation to be there. So I think one thing that was really amazing, there was a night in Marrakesh, and I call it Marrakesh because I'm too hip to say Marrakech. There was a night in Marrakesh where we were at a rest of, Which you wouldn't even notice. It looks like it's sort of an industrial stucco building downtown, but you open the doors and it's this magical tile, fern, water, light building that's been there for centuries. And you're inside of this thing and you march up through the entire building to the roof. And on the roof, you know, they've made the accommodation where they serve vodka, you know, and tequila. And you're on the roof and there's a two-man. band, just a man with a four-stringed instrument and a drum, and they're playing something

you've never heard in your life. You're on top of the city overlooking the market, and the stars are above you, and there's this rhythm that's thousands of years old, and you think, you know, I'm in the actors union, you know, I'm just a guy from Illinois, and I'm here being able to touch and listen to something that's affected people for many centuries. And you just get reminded you have a responsibility to take what we're given and pass it on. Transform yourself somehow and pass it on. Hi. Hi, Mr. Bill Murray.

I was just curious, what has been your favorite role to play ever? Well, once upon a time, I did save the city of New York. And I had the coolest damn car. to drive around Manhattan. Thank you. Hi, Bill. I'm James from Nerd Central, and this movie looks awesome. I want to know, has it got a rocking soundtrack

with some karaoke options? It has, well, it has a, it has some kind of a classic rock soundtrack because it's, you know, he's a, he's a, an old-time promoter. But, you know, our friend Steve Bing, who's one of our producers, managed to call in favors from some of the greatest, you know, Bob Dylan, you know, Leon Russell. These, the great names, Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood. There's some, you know, Steve Stills, Neil Young. We got Kid Rock. He's jokingly saying Kid Rock over here. Kid Rock. I'm not serious. Kid Rock. I'm serious.

but it's it's it's a fantastic soundtrack and there's great and there's great music through it it's a powerful it's a powerful movie i don't know have any of you know has anyone seen the movie yet no it's not out it's not out yet okay well i've seen it i've seen it and it's uh it's really good i don't i would not be appearing in public if i didn't think it were really good. It's really good. And music is part of, I mean, his character is a rock manager.

The girl he discovers sings only Katz Steven's songs because she's Muslim. And so you have a, you know, so music is it's not just the soundtrack, it's actually part of the film. But there's a great, going to be a great soundtrack for it.

I promise. Hi Bill. I know you're probably sick of hearing this, but as al-a-a-a-a-a-a-l-l-a-l-l-l-a-l-l-l-a-l-l-l-a-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-lom. I wanted to know if you felt that as a legendary actor, if you had a responsibility to educate the masses through entertainment roles like this. Well, that's a fine question. I don't, I think it's, you could take it that way, but it's sort of like I was saying to the other gentleman, not your gentleman, but the gentleman, you don't have an obligation to educate through your work. I think when you do, when people try to do that, I mean,

you do it, if you do it correctly. But I think if you set out with that intention, I'm going to educate people with my work. It's, you're missing, you're sort of aiming at the curb. You're not exactly aiming at the stars, you know. I think if you educate people with your work, you're aiming even higher. You're not even offering to educate people about, say, the issue of women in Afghanistan or freedom somewhere. You're talking about

trying to live by principles that we only aspire to, you know, that we mostly don't achieve, that we mostly don't attain. And you don't take yourself so seriously, but you try your hardest to comport yourself.

It's the word you don't get to use comport yourself to be alive, you know, now, to be alive now. So if we can all be alive now, really just be here inside of our skin now, not next to us, not in the aisle in front of us or down the row. If we can be in our skin right now, then as a group we're all elevating somehow. Yes, we're all going up. we're all rising yeah and all you can do if you can try to be that way on the on screen on the film and it's sort of ideal in a way because most of us only have a short attention span

anyway this certainly as i do if you can be that way for as long as you are on the screen sometimes a take only lasts a minute and a half or something i can i can hold it together for a minute and a half i can be calm and relaxed and alive that long and that gives you hope to do it again it's a lot of work but it gives you hope to do it again and

you can see that even though there's not an intention to do a certain thing that happens on the way to trying to make the other thing occur does that make sense? The personal becomes universal you know so the story it's not like hearing it's a great ride

but the story of this woman or whatever or this guy becomes universal, you know, in the telling of it. So it's not like a lecture or anything. I think that's part of what you're saying, too. God, I hope so. Well, hope is a very big part of it, it really is. Thank you.

That's a wonderful question. Thank you. My knees are shaking a little. I'm sorry. Your knees? Yeah, a little. All right, well, see if you can make it move up to your hips. You can get your hips moving

Then your arms are going to go above your head And it's all going to happen Right So my question. So my question is about Bruce Willis Is he a jackass on set Or is he Does he have a soft heart

That you really need to dig into Or is he a nice foil to you? Or is he a nice foil to you? you what is he like well he's a he's a movie star you know he's a movie star and you know you hear stories about people and uh you know i mean i don't know if i've heard really a whole hell a lot of stories about him but you hear stories about people like oh he's tripping on people or whatever well when you're the movie star and a real movie star and he is one you have to sometimes take matters into your own hands.

You know, you really do. In the name of entertainment, for one, in the name of, and really in the name, more often than you'd think, in the name of just respecting the crew, you know, because there are people that try to sort of take over a situation and dominate people. I don't want to say producer slime specifically. No, I don't want to say a certain kind of person, but there are people that want to take advantage of a group situation and dominate. There's a personality flaw.

And a movie star can step into the middle and say, no, that ain't going to happen, boss. That's not going to happen. And they'll get a little loud, you know, and they'll get in someone's face. And that story gets repeated because that person got loud or that person got in someone's face.

But the movie star, they're a noble race, they really are. And they have to sort of, and they're an endangered species, is right. Sometimes they get really loud and ugly and cantankerous in the name of protecting like an integrity to the job. And it's not just the script or the hours that you have to work, but how the crew is treated, the food that they're served. I mean, it's a whole lot of things. My experience with Bruce has been on two films, Moonrise Kingdom, wasn't too shabby that movie.

And this one rocked the Cosbah. He and I shared, I mean, we had, you know what a two-banger is in terms of a trailer? A two-banger is, it's like, it's not even a studio apartment. It's like half as much room to Josh as I, that's for he and his crowd. And this is for, you know, he wasn't living, he wasn't tripping at all. You know, he had a dinky little trailer in a dusty little place where there's no air conditioning and the smoke blew in your face and the sand blue in your eyes. And it was 116 degrees one day, you know?

Black. And he was dressed in. black, which is slimming, but hot. Thank you so much, Bill Murray, and for teaching me a new dance move. You've got to find that chick with the

buttons, my friend. Hello. You're alive. Sao Paulo, Brazil. And so, actually, the social media platforms, Twitter, Facebook, involved to live posting and live, all the things. So what do you think about empowering minorities? And so what do you do to make things better?

I'm glad to ask you. Who's that question for? Well, if you're asking, if you're asking me, am I in favor of empowering minorities? Absolutely. I think, you know, the world is changing. It's very slow. It's very slow, and it doesn't change the way we want it, you know. There is a justice in the world.

It just doesn't come when we want it. It comes slowly. It's planetary. It's, you know, it's universal. It comes, but it comes very slowly. and you know you can hit a table and say this is wrong that doesn't mean it's going to change overnight like there's a flag flying from a building in south carolina that people are really upset about you know and it's going to change it's changed it's going to change but it doesn't change because someone

says so there's something that's got to change in the way it is i mean we were a country that was founded with a glorious declaration of independence at a time when we still had slavery. You know? And the deal was, okay, we'll sign it. They couldn't get the deal done. They said, okay, we'll sign it. But in 1820, we're going to, they started, the laws started changing and people had to start giving away their slaves. That's, there really were, I mean, if you're really look into the history of it, they made a deal like, okay, we're going to end slavery, but we can't get it done today, okay? They made a, they made like a 50-year plan to get it done. You know, it's insane, but that was the way, you know, you had to make some sort of compromise with people that

wouldn't bend back then. It was wrong. Still's wrong, you know, but, you know, you can only make it happen so fast. So how do you, how do you make it change? You know, it really starts with yourself. You know, we are slaves ourselves. We're slaves to our own weakness. You know, we're slaves to our bodies and we're slaves to our emotions. If you can free your own self, that's a huge help. That's really all you can do. That's really the best thing you can do. And that state that you enter them, that you attain, affects everyone around you. Finally. What do you think

the funniest part in the movie is? When'd you take that one? Yeah, I'll take that one for Bill. There's a part where, spoiler alert, there's an explosion. And Bill's character, It seems like he's been affected by the explosion, but he's deafened by it.

And as written, it wasn't quite as funny as it ended up on the screen because he just starts stomping around the desert, and Bruce Willis is saying, you know, come back here. And for me, there's like a 30-second moment in the movie that's pure physical comedy, the best of what he does. You'll see it when you see the movie. It's just, you'll be laughing, I promise. You personally.

It's really funny. I think we have time. Time for just a couple more. Home stretch. Here we go. Hey, uh-oh. Hey, uh, Mill Murray. I, uh, I don't know if you've ever heard, but there's people that share around these

stories of, uh, you doing crazy things and acting weird and then turning to the person that's telling the story and saying, no one will ever believe you if i was a curious if any of those stories have any validity to them and if not like if you have heard of them is there one that really is like you've heard and you're like wow that's pretty crazy I don't know what he was talking about. It sounds like fun, though, doesn't that? I can attest to one.

My wife is here who starred in Roadhouse with Patrick Swayze. Kelly Lynch is here. And I can attest to one of those stories, which is, is for about, it felt like 20 or 30 years, but for about five or six years, any time Roadhouse was on, and I mean, it was on TNT every 15 minutes, it seemed. So before in the morning,

he actually once called me from Russia at a wedding to say, your wife is banging Patrick Swayze. And then there was a moment where all his brothers were calling me at weird hours to do the same voice. So I mean, I don't know about the, you'll never believe it,

but Kelly and I were haunted by the ghostbuster. Hello? Hey, Bill. I'm Josh, and this is my daughter, Anika. So this is Baby's first legend. She's witnessing on the stage right now. So thank you for being here.

My question is, being surrounded by all these nerds, the greatest group gathering of them in the world, really, every year. What is your niche in the nerds? So is it Star Trek, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Firefly, Doctor Who? Where do you fit in amongst us? That's a great question. That really is a good question.

And I wondered about it myself. I have a taser with me. I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know what to expect. I honestly didn't know what my place was before I came. I didn't know. I've been nearby and seen just sort of like television kind of coverage of what's happening. But I must say, it feels wonderful to be in this room.

It really does. So I don't, I have a lot of dress-up outfits at home that I really wouldn't, I would surprise you with. I'm not going to tell you. I'd really rather surprise you, but I feel like I could, I feel comfortable in this room and that there's a, I don't know what it is, I don't know if it's passion or, you know, I like when people get excited about something, you know. You know, there's a lot of people that just don't get excited about much at all, you know, that only get excited about food or something or TV or something, but the fact that you all are excited about something in particular and really just, just the forms, you know, the fantastic forms, you know, the creative forms, you know, that's pretty cool, you know, it's, it's, it's, it's, some of the best parties I've ever been to were worth really insane nerds, like crazy, crazy. Like, I was at a party once at the, at the

Skywalker Ranch up there, you talk about nerds, you talk about nerds, I mean, these people, they should have their blood tested, you know, or, or really, you know, or really, you know, or recycled or something, transfused into other people. But the rap party, when we finished the work up there, was one of the craziest and most maniacal I've ever seen. It was really fun. Playing into a band called El Rayo X. David Lindley's band, anyone know this band?

It's like a really stupid, and people literally bouncing upside down on their heads and standing on their heads and stuff. It really was stupid, stupid fun. I liked it a lot. Well, Bill, we are very proud to embrace you as one of our own here in Hall H. Truly, you guys have kicked off. This is literally the first big panel of Comic-Con. Hall H has been kicked off in great style.

Please give it up one more time, making his first Comic-Con appearance with Bill Murray, Mitch Blazer, Rock the Casbah, opens October 23rd. Thanks, guys. Hello, Internet. Paul F. Tompkins here. You may know me as a guest on all of your favorite shows, and three shows you don't like all that much. But now, I have a show of my own.

Spontaneation, where I pick the guests. I finally have the power. First, I interview wonderful people like Colin Hanks, Caitlin Olson and Michael Sheen. Then a cadre of elite improvisers and I will use that interview to spin a crazy improvised story. How crazy? This crazy.

Diane, when we met, I may have ended your life by vampiric means and made you a vampire. That would explain why I keep drinking people's blood. And when your skin is so fresh and radiant. Yeah, and I try to kill myself a bunch of times, and it did not

work. With music by the incomparable Evan Schletter and yours truly hosting, it's spontaneous nation. Only on Earwolf. Only for you, Damien. I'm doing this for you. Adam Sacks, Matt Goorley, and Paul Shear. I'm Amy Nicholson, the film critic for the L.A. Times. And I'm Paul Shear, an actor, writer, and director. You might know me from The League, Veep, or my non-eligible for Academy Award role in Twisters. We love movies, and we come at them from different perspectives. Yeah, like Amy thinks that, you know, Joe Pesci was miscast in Goodfellas, and I don't.

He's too old. Let's not forget that Paul thinks that dude too is overrated. It is. Anyway, despite this, we come together to host Unspool, a podcast where we talk about good movies, critical hits. Fan favorites, must-season, and Casey Mistoms. We're talking Parasite the Home Alone. From Greece to the Dark Night. We've done deep dives on popcorn flicks.

We've talked about why Independence Day deserves a second look. And we've talked about horror movies, some that you've never even heard of like Ganges and Hess. So if you love movies like we do, come along on our cinematic adventure. Listen to Unspooled wherever you get your podcasts. And don't forget to hit the follow button.