Lucy Liu recalls standing up to Bill Murray as he hurled insults at her on set of Charlie's Angels

Lucy Liu sat down for an interview to discuss her career and the current state of the film industry.

She had her breakthrough in the late 90s and early 2000s with roles in the era-defining television show Ally McBeal and in the Charlie's Angels films.

That was a particularly harrowing time for a young actress to be making her way and she recalled an incident during the filming of Charlie's Angels in 2000.

Liu was the less established star alongside Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore. Bill Murray played John Bosely who conveyed their jobs from the mysterious Charlie. 

Lucy – who is currently starring in Amazon's Red One – recalled standing up for herself when Murray started hurling insults at her, saying, 'I really didn’t think about it. I would have done that in any situation,' Liu, 56, told The Guardian.

'I think when I sense something is not right, I am going to protect myself. It’s an innate thing to do if you feel there’s injustice, and I always feel that way.'

She said the Caddyshack actor, 74, used language that 'was inexcusable and unacceptable' and she called him out on it as she isn't the sort of person who 'keeps quiet' or 'plays the game.'

'If I was, it would have been a much easier road. But because I’ve never been that person, we had to find a way, Liu explained.

'I think there has never been an easy road, for me and for us – and I say "us" because I really think it’s a group effort,' she said referring to all the Asian American actors who came before her. 

'I would never take credit. My career has not been paved by myself,' she added. 

Liu previously spoke about the incident with Murray in July 2021 on the Los Angeles Times' Asian Enough podcast. 

She said her impulse to stand up for herself comes from seeing her mother talked down to when she was a child.  

'I don’t want to be that person that is not going to speak up for myself and stand by the only thing that I have, which is my dignity and self-respect at the end of the day.'

She was asked to provide specifics about the 2000 run in with Murray. 

'I feel like some of those stories are private, she said. 'But I will say, when we started to rehearse this scene, which was all of us in the agency, we had taken the weekend to rework that particular scene and Bill Murray was not able to come because he had to attend some family gathering. 

She continued: 'As we’re doing the scene, Bill starts to sort of hurl insults, and I won’t get into the specifics, but it kept going on and on. I was, like, “Wow, he seems like he’s looking straight at me.”   

'I couldn’t believe that [the comments] could be towards me, because what do I have to do with anything majorly important at that time,' she said.

'I literally do the look around my shoulder thing, like, who is he talking to behind me? I say, “I’m so sorry. Are you talking to me?” And clearly he was, because then it started to become a one-on-one communication.'

She said his language was 'inexcusable and unacceptable' and she wasn't going to just sit there and let him talk to her like that.  

'So, yes, I stood up for myself, and I don’t regret it,' she explained. 

'Because no matter how low on the totem pole you may be or wherever you came from, there’s no need to condescend or to put other people down. 

'And I would not stand down, and nor should I have,' she said, adding that she doesnt have anything against Murray. 'I’m not going to sit there and be attacked.'

Lucy's latest film is Stephen Soderbergh's psychological horror Presence, which is told from the perspective of a ghost. 

She plays a mom who moves into the home occupied by the ghost with her two children. 

'He’s truly an artist, because he’s willing to experiment and not really afraid to fail,' says Liu of the director. 

'I feel like it [Presence] is coming from a very clear place of curiosity, which I enjoy, because that is artistic freedom, isn’t it? You’re not doing it for "the Man." 

'It’s something you are curious about so then you just try it. We’re so used to being told what to look at, what to do or feel,' Liu said.