Bill Murray Explains Why He Gave ‘SNL50’ Writers a Sincere Pep Talk Ahead of Show

Bill Murray is known for his jokes, but he may have a future as an inspirationa; speaker!

On Wednesday, March 12, the Emmy award-winning actor, 74, appeared as a guest on The Drew Barrymore Show where he told the talk show host, 50, how he helped raise morale on set for SNL50: The Anniversary Special. 

The special was held in Manhattan’s iconic Studio 8H on Feb. 16 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live‘s 1975 debut.

Murray, a five-time host and former cast member, recalled how the mood in the writers room was anything but celebratory ahead of the big milestone show.

“Well, they were having a meeting and I just sort of walked into the meeting, you know. It’s [Lorne Michaels’] meeting, and he’s sitting there; his feet on his desk, and there were all the writers sitting in the room and it was grim. It was very grim,” Murray said, adding, “it just felt very heavy.”

The Groundhog Day alum admitted he’d already seen some of the SNL50 planning, which left him feeling “really excited.”

“I just tried to share with them how beautiful it was going to be, you know? What a wonderful responsibility it was going to be how many people were going to watch it and love it and that I thought it was destined to be extraordinary success,” Murray said of his conversation with the Saturday Night Live team.

“But Tina [Fey] really enjoyed that and I guess other writers, too,” he continued. “It seemed like they just needed a little kick, a little boost.”

According to Murray, he “wasn’t acting” during his pep talk, “and they certainly delivered.”

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Barrymore told her audience she was “lucky enough” to attend this year’s event after her “one mission” while attending the 25th anniversary back in 2000 was to find Murray and beg him to do Charlie’s Angels.

She said that “you could only reach [Murray] by calling a payphone,” just like the Charlie’s Angels honcho John Bosley, whom Murray ended up playing in the action blockbuster.

She also described her big-screen costar as “inextricably linked” and “a legend at SNL.”

But Murray humbly praised the entire cast saying over the five decades, “there were great people that keep coming through. It’s been a never-failing spring of talent that has come through that show … Any week there could be a spectacular sketch written on that show. They have real talent and they have really good writers. There are stuff that amazes me that they write nowadays.”

SNL50: The Anniversary Special is now streaming on Peacock.