Bill Murray is reflecting on the old days at Saturday Night Live — and his encounters with Bruce Willis.
The SNL veteran, 74, recalled Willis, now 70, working behind the scenes at the NBC sketch comedy show during the 1970s. At the time, Willis was part of the network’s Page Program, an internship for the young and ambitious.
“Bruce Willis was a page at NBC when I was on Saturday Night Live,” Murray said on the Monday, March 31, edition of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen. “This sounds like insane s***, [but] his job was to come and go to the dressing rooms and refill the M&Ms and pretzels in the actors’ rooms.”
“I remember when I met him after he was already a successful guy, he said, ‘You and Gilda [Radner] were nice to me,’” said Murray, who was promoting his upcoming film The Friend, slated to hit theaters on April 4.
The Die Hard icon would go on to host SNL in 1989 and 2013, as well as star alongside Murray in the film Moonrise Kingdom circa 2012.
“Moonrise Kingdom was a really beautiful, lovely film. And I got to work with and have a wonderful time with [him],” an emotional Murray noted, calling Willis “a good guy, a good f***ing guy. He was a good friend.”
Bill Murray gives us the inside scoop on the start of Bruce Willis’ career #WWHL pic.twitter.com/KJRFQjXsar
— Watch What Happens Live! (@BravoWWHL) April 1, 2025
Two weeks prior to Murray’s WWHL appearance, Willis celebrated his 70th birthday with family including ex-wife Demi Moore and their three daughters: Rumer, 36, Scout, 33, and Tallulah, 31.
“Happy birthday, BW! We love you,” Moore, 62, captioned an Instagram tribute, which included snaps of the exes hugging, Willis holding Rumer’s daughter, Lou, who turns 2 in April, and the actor sharing quiet moments with Scout and Tallulah.
Moore and Willis were married from 1987 to 2000 and remained good friends after their divorce. Willis went on to wed Emma Heming Willis in 2009. The couple share two daughters, Mabel, 12, and Evelyn, 10.
In March 2022, Willis was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia and communication disorder aphasia, which impacted his cognitive abilities. He retired from acting as a result.
“Today marks 16 years with the love of a lifetime,” Emma, 46, wrote via Instagram on March 21 while celebrating their wedding anniversary. “We’ve shared monumental highs and devastating lows, and through it all, we’ve built something timeless.”
She continued, “I’m so deeply grateful for every chapter I’ve had with him — and all the ones we’ll continue to write, in our language of unconditional love.”
