It probably took the brass at Netflix all of a nanosecond to shout “yes, please” when director Sofia Coppola pitched her idea for a festive holiday special – that hanging out with Bill Murray at Christmas would be fun.
A Very Murray Christmas not only reunites the funnyman with two of the most positive creative influences in his life – Coppola, who directed him in Lost in Translation (2003), and Mitch Glazer, who co-wrote Scrooged (1988) – but it’s a holiday musical that delivers a constellation of stars and more ring-a-ding-ding than the Rat Pack, as it pays homage to the tradition of classic TV variety shows.
Even Murray, who famously shuns all but a few offbeat, hand-picked gigs each year to exercise his creative muscles, sounds genuinely excited about his Yuletide engagement.
“I knew everyone was amazing,” says the 65-year-old, “and in the moment of making it all, I thought, ‘Holy cow. I’ve never done anything like this. I’ve never felt this way, done anything like this, so to speak’.”
Who is “everyone”, you ask?
Well, for starters, Murray makes festive with the likes of Amy Poehler and George Clooney – and trips the light fantastic with Miley Cyrus. The special also features Chris Rock, Jason Schwartzman, Rashida Jones, Paul Shaffer, Michael Cera, David Johansen, Maya Rudolph, Jenny Lewis and the band Phoenix, among others.
Set inside New York City’s historic Carlyle hotel, A Very Murray Christmas opens with Murray gearing up to host a live, international holiday broadcast – until a blizzard puts it under threat. It now looks like neither Sir Paul McCartney nor Pope Francis can make it – although there’s still a slim chance that Clooney may yet show up. As the snowstorm rages, the fretful Murray croons and celebrates with friends, hotel staff and anyone else who happens to drop by, in his bid to scrape together the best show he can. Luckily for him, there’s an gang of pals ready to help out – and prepared to wait for Clooney to put in an appearance.
“We’ve got food, we’ve got drinks, we’ve got attractive people,” says the newly upbeat Murray as he takes charge. “OK, we’re going to need someone to sing a Christmas carol. We’re going to need a volunteer. Tonight will go down as the greatest night in history.”
Cineastes may also find themselves as giddy as a schoolboy on Christmas morning at the notion of Murray collaborating with Coppola for the first time since their Tokyo-set drama 12 years ago, which won critical acclaim and propelled his co-star Scarlett Johansson’s career into the stratosphere.
“People say, ‘Well, how do you collaborate with someone? Isn’t it your point of view?’
“No, no. Real people know anyone can have the great idea,” Murray told Glazer, who interviewed the star for the cover story of December’s Vanity Fair.
“Real people see the great idea instantly. They don’t hold on to theirs anymore – they see a great idea. People with real talent, they don’t worry about that stuff. It’s the people with not enough talent that you argue with.”
When the project was announced in Variety, Murray said: “We’re going to do it like a little movie. It won’t have a format, but it’s going to have music. It will have threads through it that we’re writing. It will have a patina style and wit to it.” For Coppola, it’s her Christmas wish come true: “My motivation is to hear him singing my song requests.”
Despite his own decades of stardom, from Saturday Night Live to his upcoming appearance in the Ghostbusters reboot, Murray still finds himself star-struck by the dapper Clooney.
“I mean, he looks like such an insane, crazy-handsome, beautiful movie star – it’s ridiculous. I just start laughing.”
• A Very Murray Christmas is out now on Netflix.
