The idea of Bill Murray and Bruce Willis sharing an office before reaching icon status is a fun piece of trivia for movie fans, but it becomes disheartening to realize how long it took for them to properly work together. Murray, now promoting his new film with Naomi Watts, The Friend, is still a prominent figure in movies and culture in his 70s. Due to his ongoing health issues, Willis has retired, but his impact on film and our expectations of movie stars is everlasting. From Chris Pratt to Ryan Reynolds, contemporary male leads attempt to capture Willis’ blend of toughness and wit in action-thrillers and comedies. When Willis was just an aspiring actor working as a page at NBC, greatness was hardly on his mind. The best part of his day was hoping that he would leave a strong impression on Murray, who was making his name on Saturday Night Live.
Bruce Willis Worked as an NBC Page While Bill Murray Was on ‘Saturday Night Live’
Although he wasn’t in SNL‘s first season, depicted in all its chaotic glory in Jason Reitman‘s Saturday Night, Bill Murray became synonymous with the new firebrand of comedy shepherded by Lorne Michaels‘ motley crew of sketch performers in the ’70s, including Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, and Gilda Radner. It didn’t take long for him to evolve into a bankable movie star, with Ghostbusters cementing his status for the following decades. Willis, the sitcom star of Moonlighting, shattered all expectations of the traditional buff and Herculean action hero in Die Hard and maintained household status throughout his career. However, Wes Anderson was the first person to bring them together on the screen in his 2012 coming-of-age dramedy, Moonrise Kingdom.
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NBC’s page program is a 12-month paid rotational learning and development program that provides budding talent with industry experience while serving as an assistant at the network’s office. They often host tours of the building, famously portrayed by Kenneth Parcell (Jack McBrayer) in 30 Rock. During his time as a page in the ’70s, Bruce Willis was assigned to menial tasks like refilling the M&Ms bowl in the dressing rooms of SNL cast members and God knows what other crazy hijinks that ensued behind closed curtains at Studio 8H. This anecdote was revealed by Bill Murray, who was a guest on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. Years later, Willis complimented Murray by saying that he and Gilda Radner were “nice” to him. “Bruce Willis is a good f–ing guy,” an emotionally touched Murray said. Willis’ battle with dementia is heartbreaking, but hearing vocal support from his contemporaries like Murray and his ex-wife Demi Moore is a testament to his class.
Bruce Willis and Bill Murray Teamed Up With Wes Anderson in ‘Moonrise Kingdom’
Murray found a new chapter in his career in the late ’90s upon being selected by Wes Anderson to be his muse, appearing in nearly all of his quirky and symmetrically staged films. Murray was happy to welcome Willis as his co-star in Moonrise Kingdom, which he called a “beautiful, lovely film.” After a creatively fallow period where he was unfairly typecast in stale action roles, Willis made a soaring screen comeback in 2012 with Looper and Moonrise Kingdom, with the former placing the grizzled action star in flashy high concept and the latter highlighting his untapped sensitivity, a trait first unlocked by M. Night Shyamalan. In perhaps Anderson’s most sentimental film, Murray had a “wonderful time” with Willis, as both screen legends use their age to reflect the dynamic between the worried adults and reckless youths who abandon their everyday lives in search of something profound.
Willis’ precise ability to pivot from irritable to charismatic would’ve made him an ideal player in the Wes Anderson stock company, but we can be grateful that he managed to give at least one soulful performance in one of his films. Playing Duffy Sharp, the police captain searching for two runaway pre-teens, Willis’ austere presence fills a void for most critics of Anderson, often derided for leaning too far into twee sensibilities. Along with Gene Hackman in The Royal Tenenbaums, Anderson specializes in extracting great performances out of actors who seem inapt to his unique tone.
Bill Murray and Bruce Willis crossing paths before reaching the height of their respective fame inside the walls of NBC signals just how small show business can be. The network’s page program helped launch a plethora of illustrious figures, including Eva Marie Saint, Regis Philbin, Aubrey Plaza, and Michael Eisner, but few get to leave such an impactful impression on a star like Willis did with Murray.
