Jennifer Coolidge Says She Liked When Bill Murray Was ‘A Little Mean’

Jennifer Coolidge has jokingly revealed how her Riff Raff costar Bill Murray once made her “feel like a chump.”

“No other guy would have given me a hard time but Bill Murray,” Coolidge, 63, teased on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Thursday, March 6.

Coolidge and Murray star in the new comedy about lifelong crook Vincent (Ed Harris) reuniting with his family after years of estrangement. During her appearance on ABC’s late-night show, the two-time Emmy award winner light-heartedly told host Jimmy Kimmel that she had an unexpected rapport with her Riff Raff castmate.

“I like [Murray] a lot, but he gives you a really hard time about a lot of things,” she declared.

Coolidge recalled being mocked by Murray during a press conference for going into too much detail about her Riff Raff character.

“I felt like such a chump. I was like going, ‘Oh, my God,” she remembered, before quipping: “I know this going to be a terrible thing to say, but sometimes when guys are a little bit mean to you just for a second, you’re like, ‘Oh!’”

Coolidge then explained: “When you’re at a film festival, everyone is complimenting you. Bill Murray had to set me straight.”

Though Coolidge was surprised by Murray’s biting sense of humor, the actor recently revealed that he played peacemaker between his friend director Wes Anderson and costar Gene Hackman on the set of the 2001 movie The Royal Tenenbaums.

Murray told the Associated Press following Hackman’s death at age 95 in February that the actor was “really difficult” and a “tough guy” while making the family dramedy.

“Older, great actors do not give young directors much of a chance. They’re really rough on them, and Gene was really rough on Wes,” Murray remembered. “I used to, kind of, step in there and just try to defend my friend.”

Murray’s latest role in Riff Raff, which was released on February 28, casts him against his usual comedic type as a murderous gangster, named Leftie, who teams up with henchman Lonnie (Pete Davidson) to get revenge on a former rival (Harris).

“They’re both so good,” Coolidge told Kimmel of Murray and Davidson’s performances in Riff Raff. “Bill Murray is very dark in this film. He’s really good as a scary [hitman].”

Riff Raff is the ninth film from A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints and Man Down director Dito Montiel and features a star-studded cast that includes Gabrielle Union, Top Gun: Maverick‘s Lewis Pullman and Robots actress Emanuela Postacchini. The crime comedy had its world premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival in September before getting a wide release in February.

Away from the big screen, Murray made headlines earlier this week when he finally addressed long standing rumors that he once dated “Milkshake” singer Kelis after being spotted during her set at the Mighty Hoopla music festival in London in 2023.

While the Ghostbusters star denied there was ever anything romantic between him and Kelis, he did joke: “You know, one of us could be on the rebound any second. Anything could happen.”

Jimmy Kimmel Live! airs weeknights on ABC at 11:35 p.m. ET.