TELLURIDE, Colorado 鈥� Actors are used to pressure, but the task before Bill Murray in Hyde Park on Hudson was more than a little stressful.
Director Roger Michell said that if the Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day veteran didn鈥檛 want to star as Franklin Delano Roosevelt, he wouldn鈥檛 make the movie at all, and Murray knew he would be playing someone so famous, as the actor put it, that 鈥渉e鈥檚 on the dime!鈥�
Although the film has received mixed reviews, the 62-year-old Murray has attracted some critical attention for his performance as FDR, including a Golden Globe nomination for lead actor in a comedy or musical, a category that includes Hugh Jackman from Les Miserables and Bradley Cooper for Silver Linings Playbook.
Hyde Park isn鈥檛 the only Murray movie receiving award consideration. Wes Anderson鈥檚 comedy Moonrise Kingdom, in which Murray plays the father of a runaway girl, is a contender for the original screenplay Academy Award and a dark horse for the best picture Oscar shortlist.
Set on the eve of the Second World War, Hyde Park on Hudson focuses on the 32nd president鈥檚 many romantic entanglements, most prominently his love affair with distant cousin Margaret 鈥淒aisy鈥� Suckley (Laura Linney), just as King George VI (Samuel West) and Queen Elizabeth (Olivia Colman) are coming to visit the president at his New York vacation compound.
As written by playwright Richard Nelson, the movie largely steers clear of global or even national politics. Instead, Hyde Park is chiefly concerned with FDR鈥檚 juggling of so many women, including his wife, Eleanor (Olivia Williams). In one of the film鈥檚 most striking scenes, the president鈥檚 sexual relationship with Daisy commences with some unusual philandering in the front of the president鈥檚 convertible.
In a late summer conversation at the Telluride Film Festival, Murray said he was attracted to the movie because it offered an unsentimental look at an unusual couple who, though not lonely, were clearly needy.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not necessarily romantic,鈥� the actor said. 鈥淏ut it is intimate. These are two people who need each other.鈥�
The movie is informed in large part by Suckley鈥檚 diaries and correspondence with FDR, which Murray read along with a number of biographies. 鈥淗er stuff is on a completely different level,鈥� Murray said. 鈥淗e is saying stuff to her that he doesn鈥檛 share with anyone else. This is someone he trusted. She was intelligent. She was not a dowdy, hopeless woman.鈥�
Murray called FDR 鈥渢he most formidable character鈥� he鈥檇 ever played. He spent months researching the president鈥檚 life and listened to recordings of Roosevelt to approximate FDR鈥檚 voice.
Michell said he wanted only Murray because audiences grant him the slack that the role necessitates. 鈥淗e has a charismatic charm as an actor that lets you forgive his character鈥檚 mischief,鈥� the filmmaker said.
His younger sister鈥檚 contracting polio as an infant helped guide the stoicism found in Murray鈥檚 performance. Her treatments in the 1950s included immersion in scalding water, and Murray recalled hearing her screams. 鈥淭hat shaped the state I was in while I worked because I realized she didn鈥檛 complain about anything.鈥�
Although he鈥檚 not working as frequently as some of his peers, Murray could return next awards season with another two contenders under his belt: He has George Clooney鈥檚 The Monuments Men and Anderson鈥檚 next film, The Grand Budapest Hotel, both due out next year.
