“What About Bob?” starring Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss stays one of many comedies from the Nineteen Nineties that continues to thrill followers and newcomers alike, however getting the film made wasn’t precisely a pile of snickers. Between Murray throwing a glass that shattered close to Dreyfuss to needing to shoot a number of endings, manufacturing skilled many obstacles on the way in which to the large display screen. Speaking for a current oral historical past carried out by Rolling Stone Magazine, the movie’s director, Frank Oz, shared how a lot of those rumors, in his opinion, have been conflated, however on the identical time, everybody has their very own expertise below the circumstances they confronted.
“Look, every set has a culture and a dynamic of its own, and there I have had difficulties,” he stated. “Those bad situations are cracking me up because they show our frailty as human beings and our imperfections […] the egos and the fears, the insecurities when you get in a crucible that’s so pressurized. Making a movie like this, we’re talking about millions and millions and millions of dollars. We’re talking about stars believing that it better work, because the next paycheck won’t be good if it doesn’t. Richard Dreyfuss was not trying to be bad. Everybody believes they’re doing the best thing for the movie and they’re trying their very best. That doesn’t mean that what they’re doing is the best for the movie, but they honestly believe it.”
Dreyfuss additionally spoke to Rolling Stone for the piece and nonetheless appeared bitter over how “What About Bob?” was made, significantly in relation to Oz’s high quality as a director and the mistreatment of the movie’s late producer, Laura Ziskin. During one significantly tense alternate, Murray apparently broke Zisken’s glasses over her incapacity to safe a break day for the crew on a vacation. While Dreyfuss thought-about Murray’s actions “pretty wacky,” Oz views it as simply him being in robust protection of his co-workers.
“I thought at the time he crushed her glasses for personal reasons, but it makes sense to hear it was for the crew,” stated Oz. “He really cared about the crew.”
For a very long time, Dreyfuss accused Murray of throwing a glass at him on set. Recently, Murray decried these rumors, saying he threw it close to the “Jaws” actor. Oz cleared up the narrative, as he was current on the time and has it “etched” into his reminiscence.
“I got in a room with Bill and Richard to try and solve a script problem,” Oz stated to Rolling Stone. “We had several drafts that various people liked. Bill left the room and came back about 20 minutes later. Bill said something, I’m not sure what it was, but he was obviously in a dark mood. And Richard said, ‘Is that Bill talking or is that Bob Wiley talking?’ And I remember Bill grabbing a glass and saying, ‘This is Bill talking.’ And he heaved the glass about 10 feet up in the air against a huge high fireplace and glass scattered all over the room. And I remember Richard going, ‘Whoa,’ and standing up and leaving.”
Not many would think about this conduct acceptable, however having been in the industry a long time in many various roles, Oz thought it was simply a part of the method.
“We all have imperfections,” he stated. “And they come out when we’re in this heightened crucible of making a movie. But when you think of the world outside, we’re so lucky that we get to do what we do. We’re so lucky, so fortunate. And within this crucible, all this nonsense happens. Looking back, it’s just so funny to me.”
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