“Charlie’s Angels” set production assistant Shaun O’Banion is setting the record straight about those Lucy Liu and Bill Murray rumours.
Rumblings have been doing the rounds for years that Murray, who played Bosley in the 2000 flick, did not get along with Liu, who played Alex.
Murray ended up being replaced by Bernie Mac in the sequel, “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle”.
A tweet went viral earlier this month about the alleged fallout between Murray and Liu, with the social media user in question posting:
if i didnt believe lucy liu was from queens before, i sure do now after hearing she literally started throwing hands at bill murray after he stopped in the middle of a take while filming charlie’s angels just to tell her she cant act 😩 like first of all she carried that film!! pic.twitter.com/QVyWa5XynK
— knx (@knoxdotmp3) July 9, 2021
This led to O’Banion clearing up a few things.
He wrote, “Basically, Murray rewrote a bunch of scenes without telling anyone (including Drew [Barrymore] who was a producer). He put the new pages in everyone’s trailers & everyone came to set wondering where the hell the new pages had come from. Murray was the last to step on stage and by that time there was already mass confusion.”
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“McG (director) was p**sed that no one had consulted him. The AD’s were also pissed. Drew’s producing partner came in and Murray was like, ‘what’s going on?’ McG was like, ‘did you get new pages in your trailer?’ And Murray was like, ‘No. But I put new pages in everyone else’s trailer.’ Drew and her partner were pretty upset by this. Murray was like, ‘I’m making it better, ok? You’ve got, like, 16 writers on this thing…’ and Lucy spoke up, saying something like, ‘this is way out of line.'”
Basically, Murray rewrote a bunch of scenes without telling anyone (including Drew who was a producer). He put the new pages in everyone’s trailers & everyone came to set wondering where the hell the new pages had come from. Murray was the last to step on stage and by that (1/?)
— 𝙸𝙽𝚃. 𝚁𝙰𝚅𝙴𝙽𝚆𝙾𝙾𝙳 𝙵𝙸𝙻𝙼𝚂 – 𝙽𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃 (@shaun_obanion) July 10, 2021
(2/?) time there was already mass confusion. McG (director) was pissed that no one had consulted him. The AD’s were also pissed. Drew’s producing partner came in and Murray was like, “what’s going on?” McG was like, “did you get new pages in your trailer?” And Murray was like,
— 𝙸𝙽𝚃. 𝚁𝙰𝚅𝙴𝙽𝚆𝙾𝙾𝙳 𝙵𝙸𝙻𝙼𝚂 – 𝙽𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃 (@shaun_obanion) July 10, 2021
Massive thanks to @shaun_obanion for finally revealing what really went down between massive dick #BillMurray and unparalleled badass #LucyLiu on the set of #CharliesAngels. And for giving us a bts pic as a bonus! 🙏 #Liunatic4Life pic.twitter.com/YZdRhQBJIy
— Liunatic Fringe (@LiunaticFringe) July 11, 2021
“Murray turned and said, ‘I don’t know what you’re complaining about. I have you more lines. I mean… look who you’re in with here. You’re TV… and this is the big league.’ At that point Lucy shouted, ‘F**k you, you f**king c********r!'” he continued.
“And the AD’s promptly cleared the stage as Lucy ran off the stage crying. Cameron was trying to be the peacekeeper and protect Drew as the AD’s cleared the stage. Of course all of us in production had to stay inside to keep people out. I love Bill Murray (and had worked with him before), but what he said to her was totally uncalled for. Really belittling and s***ty.
“This was pretty early in the process too, and the crew already really liked Lucy (and Cameron [Diaz] and Drew). Anyway. No punches were thrown. At least not physically. He later apologized though not entirely sincerely imho.”
O’Banion has since insisted:
Word is he’s changed a lot over the ensuing years, but… happy to add some clarity. 😂 I should add, in case I wasn’t clear, that was my second film with Bill and he treated me well. Take that for what you will.
— 𝙸𝙽𝚃. 𝚁𝙰𝚅𝙴𝙽𝚆𝙾𝙾𝙳 𝙵𝙸𝙻𝙼𝚂 – 𝙽𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃 (@shaun_obanion) July 11, 2021
He also said:
I don’t recall who went to comfort Lucy – we were all taken aback by the situation, but I’m pretty sure both Drew and her partner Chris went out to speak with her. Cameron probably did too. There was a lot of movie left to shoot, so it certainly wasn’t left hanging.
— 𝙸𝙽𝚃. 𝚁𝙰𝚅𝙴𝙽𝚆𝙾𝙾𝙳 𝙵𝙸𝙻𝙼𝚂 – 𝙽𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃 (@shaun_obanion) July 11, 2021
ET Canada has reached out to Murray’s rep for comment.