The Top 25 Roles Bill Murray Didn’t Take

Two or so months ago we wrote about the Top 20 roles Jennifer Jason Leigh didn’t take. (Read it HERE.) That post sparked a lot of discussion amongst friends and site regulars about this or that actor, and all the roles they didn’t take. The actor whose name came up the most often (after, of course, the notorious Warren Beaty) was Bill Murray.

The difference between the JJL post and this Bill Murray-focused post (also about all the roles he didn’t take) is that we called Jennifer “The Great Underrated Actress of Her Time.” Bill’s problems are different. He’s not underrated, overall. The average movie-goer probably doesn’t realize how diverse Bill is – or how hard good comedy acting really is – but pretty much everyone agrees that Bill is a legend and one of the great American comedy actors of all-time.

Bill’s problem, however, might be more heartbreaking. For example: had he taken the Tom Cruise role in Rain Man (1988) or the Christopher Walken role in The Dead Zone (1983), he’d have established himself as a strong and diverse dramatic actor early on, and thus probably had a much different, far more satisfying career. And as anyone who was paying attention after the 2004 Oscar season knows (this back when Bill lost the Best Actor award to Sean Penn), Bill does want to be taken seriously as an actor. And he deserves to.

So here they are, our picks for the Top 25 Roles Bill Murray Didn’t Take (but was absolutely offered), ranked in order both of how good Murray would’ve been and how great the role would’ve been for his career. Check it …

1. About Schmidt (Warren Schmidt, Jack Nicholson)
2. Rain Man (Charlie Babbitt, Tom Cruise)
3. Batman (Bruce Wayne, Michael Keaton)
4. Bottle Rocket (Mr. Henry, James Caan)
5. Philadelphia (Joe Miller, Denzel Washington)
6. The Squid and the Whale (Bernard, Jeff Daniels)
7. There’s Something About Mary (Pat Healy, Matt Dillon)
8. The People vs. Larry Flynt (Larry Flynt, Woody Harrelson)
9. Finding Forrester (William Forrester, Sean Connery)
10. Forrest Gump (Forrest Gump, Tom Hanks)

11. The Man Who Wasn’t There (Ed Crane, Billy Bob Thornton)
12. Bad Santa (Willie Stokes, Billy Bob Thornton)
13. Star Wars (Hans Solo, Harrison Ford)
14. Animal House (Boone, Peter Riegert)
15. The Jerk (Unused cameo role)
16. The Dead Zone (Johnny Smith, Christopher Walken)
17. Primary Colors (Jack Stanton, John Travolta)
18. Toy Story (Buzz Lightyear, Tim Allen)
19. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Willy Wonka, Johnny Depp)
20. Little Miss Sunshine (Frank, Steve Carell)

21. Splash (Allen Bauer, Tom Hanks)
22. The Three Amigos (Dusty Bottoms, Chevy Chase)
23. The Witches of Eastwick (Daryl Van Horne, Jack Nicholson)
24. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (Eddie Valiant, Bob Hoskins)
25. American Pie (Jim’s Dad, Eugene Levy)

Oh, and there are also rumors that Murray has been considered for all of the Jack Nicholson roles in James L. Brooks’ movies, including the classic Melvin Udall role in As Good As It Gets (a performance Nicholson received a Best Actor statue for). The funniest part of this story is that Murray likely doesn’t even know he was offered many of these roles, as he notoriously works without an agent or manager. Also, it’s often been said that Bill doesn’t function in Hollywood as most other successful actors do. He doesn’t kiss industry ass (cool) but he also doesn’t get to know the work and merits of the great writers and directors of the day (uncool). And thus, we have to imagine, is the reason why he passed up roles in Jonathan Demme Coen Brothers, Milos Foreman, Tim Burton, Noah Baumbach and Alexander Payne films. But hey, at least he did pick up the phone when Jim Jarmusch called for Broken Flowers.

Be sure to let us know if we missed anything. And also be sure to check back tomorrow for a list of our favorite Bill Murray movies and performances that actually did happen.