Legendary comedian and actor Bill Murray appeared on Thursday’s episode of “Hot Ones,” and confirmed a wild anecdote about one of his animal costars.
Murray, promoting his movie “Riff Raff” on the show hosted by fellow Chicago-area-native Sean Evans, confirmed a story that he was bitten not once, but twice, by the groundhog he was holding in an iconic scene in the film “Groundhog Day.”
During the “Hot Ones” shoot, Murray even showed Evans a scar on his finger he says he got from the groundhog during the filming of the movie.
“He got me back-to-back, two days in a row,” Murray said. “On the second day I thought I was being smart, and I put some fisherman’s gloves underneath the gloves I was wearing. His teeth went right through the steel.”
The kicker to the story is Murray insists the animal wranglers had not trained the animal, but had rather captured it nearby.
“The two of them, they were a guy and gal couple, and they look at each other with this look. ‘He’s really rather…he’s wild,’” they said. “’We caught him just over by that field two weeks ago.’
“You get what you pay for,” he added.
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In the scene, which was filmed in Woodstock, Illinois, Murray’s character kidnaps Punxsutawney Phil from the annual festival, setting off an epic chase sequence.
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Ultimately the camera shows the groundhog “driving” the truck, and at its conclusion the two characters drive into a limestone quarry, where the truck explodes.
As a spoiler, Murray’s character wakes up unscathed the next day.
Murray’s new film “Riff Raff” was released on Feb. 28. The film also stars “SNL” alum Pete Davidson, who made a guest appearance when Murray ate the last wing on the show, traditionally known as “The Last Dab.”
Davidson did not eat the final wing in his first appearance on the show, but did alongside Murray, breaking into a sweat and crying after eating the wing.
