Bill Murray has revealed that he got “surprisingly emotional” during “SNL50” last month, crying several times throughout the anniversary special.
During an appearance on SiriusXM’s “Sway in the Morning” (via Entertainment Weekly), the legendary comedian told host Sway Calloway that he couldn’t hold back his tears when he wasn’t on screen. “It was surprisingly emotional,” he sad. “I wept three times in the show. It really got to me.”
Murray said he wept because “obviously, there’s a lot of video and history that they’re showing and I didn’t see it coming.” Watching a clip of late cast member Gilda Radner alongside friend Steve Martin particularly affected him.
“There was Gilda [Radner] up there dancing with Steve Martin and I remember being there, watching them rehearse that dance number for days and days and days. I love Gilda, I was crazy about Gilda. And I sort of came apart,” he said. “I was sitting there in a dressing room with a bunch of people, and I couldn’t stop it.”
He also reminisced about another late “SNL” alum, John Belushi. “There’s the film that Tom Schiller made with Belushi visiting the ‘Saturday Night Live‘ graveyard and seeing all his compatriots dead. Meanwhile, John’s the first to go,” Murray said. “So to see that and to see him… I could go now, just thinking about it. John was a guy who really made a lot of careers possible. He dragged all of us out from Chicago.”
Murray, who was on “Saturday Night Live” from 1977 to 1980, appeared several times throughout the anniversary special, including on a special edition of “Weekend Update” and to reprise his iconic character Nick the Lounge Singer. He’s currently making the press rounds after the premiere of his new film “Riff Raff,” which he stars in alongside Jennifer Coolidge, Ed Harris, Gabrielle Union, Pete Davidson and more.
Watch Murray’s full interview on “Sway in the Morning” below.