10 Fun Facts About WHAT ABOUT BOB? Bill Murray Was a Terror on The Set
If you’ve seen What About Bob? You know that Bill Murray’s character is the kind of guy that does not like to go outside. He’s a germaphobe among other things, and there’s no doubt he would be completely flipping out living in a world that’s being overtaken by this coronavirus.
Anyway, What About Bob? is one of my favorite comedies of all time. This is one of those film that I can watch over and over again and always laugh. I’ll never get tired of watching this movie! It’s just a perfect comedy, and the chemistry between Murray and Richard Dreyfuss is insane! There’s a reason for that. They did not get along, and Murray was apparently an asshole on the set.
I thought it’d be fun to put together a list of fun facts and trivia for you regarding the film that you may or may not have known below.
Both Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss have admitted in interviews that that they did not get along during filming.
Dreyfuss said, “How about it? Funny movie. Terribly unpleasant experience. We didn't get along, me and Bill Murray. But I've got to give it to him: I don't like him, but he makes me laugh even now. I'm also jealous that he's a better golfer than I am. It's a funny movie. No one ever comes up to you and says, 'I identify with the patient'. They always say, 'I have patients like that. I identify with your character'. No one ever says that they're willing to identify with the other character.”
In another interview he said, “I didn't talk about it for years. ... Bill just got drunk at dinner. He was an Irish drunken bully, is what he was. ... He came back from dinner (one night) and I said, 'Read this (script tweak), I think it's really funny.' And he put his face next to me, nose-to-nose. And he screamed at the top of his lungs, 'Everyone hates you! You are tolerated!" Murray then "leaned back and he took a modern glass-blown ashtray. He threw it at my face from (only a couple feet away)," says Dreyfuss, who won an Oscar for 1977's The Goodbye Girl. “And it weighed about three quarters of a pound. And he missed me. He tried to hit me. I got up and left.”
Murray said, "It's entertaining--everybody knows somebody like that Bob guy. [Richard Dreyfuss and I] didn't get along on the movie particularly, but it worked for the movie. I mean, I drove him nuts, and he encouraged me to drive him nuts."
Robin Williams was the original choice for the role of Bob Wiley after having been nominated for an Oscar for Dead Poets Society. However, at the time filming was to begin, Williams had just finished filming The Fisher King and was forced to turn down the role. Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy were also considered.
Director Frank Oz originally wanted Patrick Stewart to play Dr. Leo Marvin, which would have been amazing! While I loved Dreyfuss in the film, I still think Stewart would have been an amazing choice. James Caan, Chevy Chase and Kevin Kline were also considered.
In the scene where Fay Marvin was tucking in Bob and her son Sigmund on the night of the sleepover, she holds the sheets up to allow Bob to climb into his bed. Bill Murray improvised the scene by crawling under the sheets head first, cracking up actress Julie Hagerty.
Producer Laura Ziskin recalled having a disagreement with Murray which led to her getting tossed into a lake by him. She confirmed in 2003 saying, "Bill also threatened to throw me across the parking lot and then broke my sunglasses and threw them across the parking lot. I was furious and outraged at the time, but having produced a dozen movies, I can safely say it is not common behavior." Damn, Bill!
Julie Hagerty is only ten years older than Kathryn Erbe, who played her daughter Anna Marvin. Erbe was 26 years old when she played the teenager.
The diagnosis of Bob Wiley by psychiatrist Dr. Leo Marvin was "multi-phobic personality characterized by acute separation anxiety and extreme need for family connections".
At one point in development, Woody Allen was considered to star, direct, and co-write the film, but at the time he had an exclusive deal with Orion Pictures.
Dr. Leo Marvin is a psychiatrist whose childrens' names are "Anna" and "Sigmund". They are named respectively after the famous psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and his daughter, child psychologist Anna Freud.
For the scene in which Bob accidentally blows the house up, producers used a 3/4-sized model replica of the actual house that they detonated on a nearby lot.
I’ve also included a couple of original trailers and an interview with Richard Dreyfuss talking about his experience with Bill Murray.