George Clooney Talks Bill Murray's Eccentric Brilliance

As we’re all fully aware, Bill Murray is a spectacular human being.

And hearing this confirmed as fact from George Clooney is just marvellous, particularly the story where he turns up at Clooney’s gaff on Lake Como in Italy unannounced.

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Speaking in an interview with Esquire, Clooney says: “He’s a nut.”

He continues: “He’s oddly emotional. He’s incredibly warm and emotional. He gave a toast at our wedding that was so elegant and beautiful and warm and he’s such a loving individual. And he’s adaptable to anyplace he goes. Everybody’s life is a puzzle that’s missing this one piece, and he fits in each time.

“Bill comes to see us in Italy every summer. I text him [to see when he wants to come], and then I won’t hear from him for three months.

“Then I’ll be in Italy, and he’ll call me and say, ‘I’m here.’ And I go, ‘Where?’ And he goes, 'At the front gate.’ And I open it, and he comes in.”

There was also the time that Murray moved into Chez Clooney for a week and a half.

“We were recording 'Fantastic Mr. Fox’ at the house,” says Clooney.

“Wes Anderson and all the guys came there to do it. Bill was coming the next morning. And we all woke up to the news that Owen Wilson tried to hurt himself. And Wes and everyone said, 'We have to go back.’ But Bill was supposed to be in Venice in 10 days. And he’s like, 'Well, what should I do?’

“I’d only known him from a few parties, but I said, 'Well, you can stay here.’ And he did. And we would just sit and we’d watch television together, or we’d go into the gym and work out. But you could do it and not even talk for hours.

“I’d come outside and he’d be lying in the grass looking up, and I’d come out and I’d lie in the grass and look up, and we’d just sit there and look up at the stars for two hours. He really is that guy. He’s incredibly warm, and he really fits into everyone’s life when he shows up.”

Clooney adds that Murray 'gets a good amount of joy out of how much people love him’ too.

“I think he really likes that. There’s this gentleness about him. He’s just such a funny, sweet man. Obviously talented, but in many ways he’s just a normal guy.”

As if you weren’t jealous enough of George Clooney already…

Image credits: Getty/Esquire