Bill Murray says he can enjoy encounters with fans at airports and still struggle with selfie requests when his attention’s caught up elsewhere.
For the 76-year-old Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day actor, how those moments feel depends on what he’s bringing to them.
Asked whether the attention feels like a burden, Murray said: “If you’re living correctly, it’s not a burden. But if you’re stuck in something else, then yeah, it’s hard.” He described a limit on your freedom to act as you’d like: it can come from your attachment to something or from something attaching itself to you.
He also recalled having the energy to enjoy meeting people while flying commercial: “I had a lot of energy, so I found myself having these sort of episodes with people in the airports. They’re fun.”
Murray sees fame as increasing the number of encounters he has to navigate: “It’s not always difficult. It’s just a much higher number of events than ordinary life. The percentages are the same — it’s just that the numbers are different.”