My Father, Bill Murray, and the Unlikely Film Role That United Them
The Bit Player: My Father with Steve Zissou
In this personal essay, the author recounts how her father, a former New Yorker writer who covered the Apollo missions, ended up with a small role in Wes Anderson's 'The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.' After losing his job and his marriage, he visits his daughter on set in Rome. When an actor falls ill, he's asked to screen test—and lands the part, despite never having acted before. The essay weaves together family history, the decline of space journalism, and a surreal encounter with Bill Murray, who once shared an elevator with her father.
His leg hadn’t fully healed, and I noticed he was a little less sure on his feet, often needing to stop for a rest.
- whitlock
For those wondering, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_S._F._Cooper_Jr.>
- brandur
Article does a great job of conveying the stress involved for a non-actor to play even a tiny part in a big movie like this, but yeesh, it'd be a dream come true to get even the tiniest part in one of the greatest movies of all time (IMO obviously), let alone to luck into it this way by pure happenstance.
I remembered the scene vaguely, but was curious to go back and see it. It happens at roughly 7 minutes 19 seconds into the movie, intercut into the initial awards scene, and right before Willem Dafoe's nephew gives Steve a seahorse in a bag.
- grenbys
Beautifully written! Life aquatic is one of my favorite movies. Coincidentally father-son relationship is the central theme of the movie!