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Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Naomi Watts and legendary actor Bill Murray about their work on ‘The Friend’, Murray’s first reaction to the screenplay, the characters, Watts experience acting opposite Bing the dog, and working with directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel. You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Murray, Watts, and directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel. (L to R) Naomi Watts and Bill Murray in Bleecker Street's 'The Friend'. Photo Credit: Bleecker Street. Moviefone: To begin with, Bill, what was your first reaction to the screenplay and why did you want to be part of this project?Bill Murray: Well, my first reaction was there was a lot that was going to be required that wasn't written in the script that basically I had to be able to be a real, pretty good actor. But the script was, it gave you an opportunity to really bring as much as you were capable of to the job. I knew that if Naomi was going to be there, that she was going to be able to perform. She far overshot whatever I thought. Her performance in the movie is spectacular. It's the only word for it. I haven't seen anyone do anything like it in a long time. It's an amazing piece of work, and I'm only in so many scenes with Naomi, but what she does in the rest of the movie is incredibly big and incredibly powerful. It's a big deal. She does an amazing job. So, my job was just to feed her, and she took and smacked out of the park.
Naomi Watts: Yeah, it's a terrible time for Apollo to just launch himself into her life, right at the point where she's trying to grieve and the panic of losing her apartment, as well as the emotional side of things. It was just chaos and the constant reminder and the anger. Walter was her mentor. He was supposed to keep teaching her, and It's very complicated. But it was wonderful working with this magical creature. Bing is a soulful, beautiful energy to be around constantly. He is highly trained, and they searched the nation far and wide.
BM: It's bad enough when someone asks you to sort of house-sit their dog for a weekend or something, but she ended up with this giant dog, totally responsible for this thing that took over her home and her life and represented the person that she'd lost in life. It's a big thing. The constant reminder of that emotion, that pain. You're angry at the person you've lost. Yet, if you show the anger at this giant dog, the dog could eat you. You got to be careful.
NW: You think it's going to be her undoing, but it ends up being the gateway to opening to her grief and connecting with someone. This is a lonely woman who hasn't had a proper connection with anyone for a while. She hasn't felt connected to her craft. She hasn't felt connected to a human, she hasn't felt connected to her heart and soul, I suppose. He kind of opens that up and then all these other things start becoming more achievable.
BM: Well, there were two. So, there was a good cop and a bad cop. The script they did was great and it's nice if you've got a point and one of them doesn't understand, you can go beg with the other one and say, "He's such a jerk." But they've made a bunch of good movies already. So, I think this is an amazing accomplishment because to take a good book, you can mess up a good book. This Sigrid Nunez book is a great book. You can take it and ruin, people do it all the time, but to take it and make it, to be able to bring it to life and to put pictures to it, to tell a story with words and pictures, it is just a different art, and they did it. It's really a great achievement. It's a great movie and they're going to be rich and famous and then they're going to be even more difficult to deal with. But it's a great film, ‘The Friend’, and we've ended up becoming friends. So here we go. Now where do we go?
What is the plot of ‘The Friend’?
Iris (Naomi Watts) has had a long, complex friendship with Walter (Bill Murray). Walter is an irresistible charmer, a brilliant author, a lover of many women, and a master at letting down loved ones. When he dies suddenly, Iris is left to deal with all he left behind — three ex-wives (Carla Gugino, Constance Wu and Noma Dumezweni) with unfinished business, his interrupted literary legacy, and his beloved beast Apollo (Bing). It's not that Iris doesn't like dogs, but this is Manhattan, and she’ll get kicked out of her building if they find out she’s pretty much trying to house a horse.
Who is in the cast of ‘The Friend’?
- Naomi Watts as Iris
- Bill Murray as Walter
- Sarah Pidgeon as Val
- Constance Wu as Tuesday
- Ann Dowd as Marjorie
- Noma Dumezweni as Barbara
- Felix Solis as Hektor
- Owen Teague as Carter
- Carla Gugino as Elaine
- Gina Costigan as Jocelyn
- Josh Pais as Jerry
List of Scott McGehee and David Siegel Movies:
- 'Suture' (1994)
- 'The Deep End of the Ocean' (1999)
- 'Bee Season' (2005)
- 'Uncertainty' (2009)
- 'What Maisie Knew' (2013)
- 'Montana Story' (2022)
- 'The Friend' (2025)
