It’s sometimes easy to forget that most Hollywood stars began watching movies as fans, just like the rest of us. It stands to reason, then, that many of them will have favourite actors – people whose participation in a project almost instantly guarantees they will watch it. Naturally, as these stars get further and further into their careers, there is more chance they may wind up working with one of their heroes. Sadly, Jennifer Lawrence, who has always been upfront about her acting heroes, hasn’t yet had the pleasure of sharing the screen with the one star she’s desperate to work with. It’s not for a lack of trying, though.
Lawrence’s story goes back to 2015 and a fateful meet-cute at San Diego Comic-Con. She was walking into the iconic Hall H, where all the huge geek properties hold panels for thousands of excited fans, to speak about The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2. On the way out, though, was a superstar who had made a surprise appearance at the convention to sell Rock the Kasbah, a comedy about a talent agent in the music business who finds himself in Afghanistan on a USO tour.
As Lawrence locked eyes with the one and only Bill Murray, she couldn’t help becoming an instant fangirl. She posed for a photo with Murray that went “viral”, mostly because anyone looking at it could practically feel the excitement radiating from her. It contrasted beautifully with Murray’s customary aloof, too-cool-for-school manner, which he has exuded for so many years.
When Vulture asked Lawrence what she and the Ghostbusters legend chatted about, she exclaimed, “Like the rest of the world, I’ve been a huge fan of Bill Murray for a very long time. I always wanted to meet him, and I had kind of spoken to him through Woody Harrelson.” Harrelson, you see, starred in the Hunger Games movies with Lawrence, and the two became good friends. He also starred alongside Murray in Kingpin and Zombieland, though, so he was a nice bridge between the two worlds.
Lawrence said, “I would send e-mails to Woody, mostly when drunk.” These e-mails would mostly consist of things the young star would love to say to Murray if she ever met him, and she was more than excited to find out Harrelson was actually passing them on to Murray. She smiled, “Just the fact that Bill Murray knows I exist is part one, and part two is he wanted to speak to me.”
Lawrence practically went supernova with excitement when she told Vulture that not only had Murray spoken with her at length, but he also “mentioned something about us working together.” Charmingly, she had to cover her mouth with her hand at that point to stop from squealing with glee.
Next, we fast-forward two years to a Hollywood Reporter actor roundtable featuring Lawrence, Jessica Chastain, Mary J Blige, Allison Janney, Emma Stone, and Saoirse Ronan. All six stars were asked which actor they’d most love to collaborate with, and Lawrence had her answer immediately locked and loaded. She stated, “I’m going to say Bill Murray,” but then qualified it by adding, “But I hate answering these questions because there are just too many.”
Sadly, nine years later, Lawrence still hasn’t worked with Murray. She’s certainly put it out into the universe enough times that she’d love to be in the Murray business, though, so it surely has to happen at some point. Perhaps they’re simply waiting for the perfect project.
