Bill Murray's Reddit AMA

Originally posted at the Bill Murray Blog:

Last night, Bill Murray pleasantly surprised us with a Reddit AMA in an effort to promote The Monuments Men. View the whole AMA here, and read below for a few highlights:

On Wes Anderson:

“I really love the way Wes writes with his collaborators, I like the way he shoots, and I like HIM,” Murray said. “I've become so fond of him. I love the way that he has made his art his life. And you know, it's a lesson to all of us, to take what you love and make it the way you live your life, and that way you bring love into the world.”

At the time it came out, Groundhog Day was underrated:

“The script is one of the greatest conceptual scripts I've ever seen,” he wrote. “It's a script that was so unique, so original, and yet it got no acclaim. To me it was no question that it was the greatest script of the year. To this day people are talking about it, but they forget no one paid any attention to it at the time. The execution of the script, there were great people in it.”

Interesting thoughts on marijuana:

When asked what he thought about the recreational use of marijuana, Murray didn't exactly answer the question—instead, he discussed the American penal system and the failure of the war on drugs. "Now that we have crack and crystal and whatnot, people don't even think about marijuana anymore, it's like someone watching too many videogames in comparison," he said. "The fact that states are passing laws allowing it means that its threat has been over-exaggerated. Psychologists recommend smoking marijuana rather than drinking if you are in a stressful situation. These are ancient remedies, alcohol and smoking, and they only started passing laws against them 100 years ago."

Pickles and peanut butter:

"I'm big on pickles, but I've never had them with peanut butter," he says. "I really like peanut butter though. I'm kind of surprised because I like them both so much that I haven't combined them.”

Awesomeness:

When one user asked Murray what it was like to be so awesome, Murray replied, “Nothing prepared me for being this awesome. It's kind of a shock. It's kind of a shock to wake up every morning and be bathed in this purple light.”

Highlights via Mental Floss