Bill Murray regrets turning down Clint Eastwood collaboration

Bill Murray regrets turning down the opportunity to work with Clint Eastwood.

During an appearance on The Howard Stern Show this week, the Ghostbuster star revealed that he once called the famed actor-director “out of the blue” about working together because he felt Eastwood always gave his on-screen sidekicks “a great part” and “a great death scene”.

However, Eastwood was working on an “enormous” Navy idea, but Murray didn’t want to do another military movie after making the 1981 Army-based film Stripes.

“When he said, ‘Would you ever want to do another service comedy?’ like jeez, ‘Would I become like (comedy duo) Abbott and Costello?'” Murray quipped. “I had to do like military movies? And I said, ‘Well, God, I guess maybe I shouldn’t.'”

The Groundhog Day star later came to regret his decision.

“It’s one of the few regrets I have is that I didn’t do it. Because it was a big-scale thing, and I would have gotten a great – I don’t know if I’d have gotten a great death scene, it was more of a comedy that one – but it was great,” he admitted. “He had access to World War II boats and he could have like made a flotilla and stuff, and there was some cool stuff in it.”

While the “very resilient” Eastwood is “certainly well over” Murray turning down his film, the 74-year-old still feels bad about it.

“When I see him, I’m like, ‘I’m sorry, I wish I’d done that Clint, I’m really sorry,'” he shared.

While Murray did not state the film, it is most likely the 1986 war comedy Heartbreak Ridge, which Eastwood directed and starred in as a U.S. Marine.