Lucy Liu has reflected on her on-set clash with Charlie’s Angels co-star Bill Murray, which took place during the filming of the 2000 action movie.
The actor, 56, appeared alongside Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore in the film reboot of the hit Seventies show about a trio of female crime fighters. Murray, 74, played John Bosley, assistant to the mysterious agency boss Charlie.
During a 2021 interview with the Asian Enough podcast, Liu said that the Groundhog Day star had “hurl[ed] insults” at her during a rehearsal of a recently rewritten scene, and claimed that he used language that “was inexcusable and unacceptable”.
In response, Liu said that she “was not going to just sit there and take it. So yes, I stood up for myself, and I don’t regret it”.
In a new interview with The Guardian, the Kill Bill star revealed that her response to Murray’s alleged comments was “an innate thing to do” in response to “injustice”.
“I really didn’t think about it,” she told the newspaper. “I would have done that in any situation. I think when I sense something is not right, I am going to protect myself.
“It’s an innate thing to do if you feel there’s injustice, and I always feel that way.”
She added that her career “would have been a much easier road” if she had been prepared to stay quiet.
Murray did not return to the franchise for the 2003 sequel Full Throttle, prompting Bernie Mac to join the cast as Bosley’s adoptive brother.
The Lost in Translation star has not directly addressed Liu’s comments, but in a 2009 interview with The Sunday Times he appeared to comment upon their feud, telling the paper: “Look, I will dismiss you completely if you are unprofessional and working with me [...] When our relationship is professional, and you’re not getting that done, forget it.”
The Independent has contacted Murray’s representatives for further comment.
Their Charlie’s Angels co-star Barrymore stood by Liu following her 2021 interview.
“Comedians can be a little dark sometimes, and he just came in in a bad mood,” she said on her eponymous talk show. “What you have to know is how much Lucy stood up for herself and that was the great thing that came out of an unfortunate circumstance.
“She literally said, ‘I do not accept that kind of behaviour from you.’ And we all supported her and backed her up and we moved forward.”
Liu, meanwhile, has previously said that she has since rebuilt her relationship with Murray. “I have nothing against Bill Murray at all,” she told the Asian Enough podcast. “I’ve seen him since then at an SNL reunion, and he came up to me and was perfectly nice. But I’m not going to sit there and be attacked.”
