“You don’t have to throw tantrums to get what you want.” Bill Murray stopped talking to the Ghostbusters star after this comedy ruined their friendship
Although Bill Murray and Harold Ramis were friends, they let their shared film, on the set of which there were conflicts, divide them. Because of Groundhog Day, they didn't speak to each other for 20 years.
Bill Murray and Harold Ramis were an unforgettable comedy duo and good friends who were divided by a joint project. Not the first one they collaborated on, but it was this comedy that made them stop talking to each other for many years. The actors had previously starred together in Stripes and the Ghostbusters films, and later took on a slightly different collaboration – Bill Murray starred in a production directed by Harold Ramis, Groundhog Day.
Groundhog Day is a cult film, while the title itself has become a term for the feeling of reliving the same day over and over again. However, the backstory of the production was not very positive, looking at what the film led to. Groundhog Day screenwriter Danny Rubin revealed in Wild and Crazy Guys that Murray and Ramis could not agree on the tone of the film – the former wanted a more serious production, while the director at the helm preferred to make a light comedy. Murray even tried to make changes to the script, which Ramis didn't like.
Harold Ramis himself, in an interview with EW, revealed what the situation was like on the set with Bill Murray:
Bill had all these obvious resentments toward the production, so it was very hard for a time to communicate with him. Calls would go unreturned. Production assistants couldn’t find him.
Ramis' daughter, Violet Ramis Stiel, in her book Ghostbuster's Daughter: Life with My Dad, Harold Ramis, described how work on the set of Groundhog Day was not made easy by a grumpy Murray, who was going through a difficult time in his life at the time due to a divorce. She also wrote that the filmmakers often quarreled with each other, with her wondering how such a conflict came about between actors who had worked together for a long time – she didn't know if her father had offended Murray with something, or if Murray was annoyed by how connected his career was to Ramis, or maybe it was something else. And while Ramis, she described, tried to be diplomatic in their disputes, he was not always successful (via Collider).
They had a few arguments on set, including one in which my dad uncharacteristically lost his temper and grabbed Bill by the collar, and shoved him up against a wall. Eventually, Bill just completely shut my dad out...for the next twenty-plus years.
Ramis was losing patience with his friend, whose grumpiness and conflictiveness made his job difficult. He was not afraid to criticize him during an interview with The New York Times, comparing him to an offended child.
At times, Bill was just really irrationally mean and unavailable; he was constantly late on set. What I’d want to say to him is just what we tell our children: “You don’t have to throw tantrums to get what you want. Just say what you want.”
Difficulties on the set of the hit comedy led the men to stop talking to each other for many years. But their story lived to see a happy ending. After twenty years, Murray decided to speak back to his friend. At the time, Ramis was on his deathbed through illness. The actors talked to each other, joked, reconciling with each other.