Director Frank Oz has confirmed long-standing reports of conflict during the production of What About Bob?, detailing incidents involving stars Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss in a recent oral history for Rolling Stone.
The 1991 film has remained popular with viewers, but the atmosphere during its production was far from relaxed. Oz described the pressure that surrounded the shoot, where creative disagreements and personal tensions surfaced often. “Every set has a culture and a dynamic of its own,” he said. “The egos and the fears, the insecurities when you get in a crucible that’s so pressurized… everybody believes they’re doing the best thing for the movie.”
One of the most talked-about moments involved a glass-throwing incident that has been retold with differing versions over the years. Oz said it took place during a meeting intended to resolve script issues. “Bill left the room and came back about 20 minutes later,” he said. “He was obviously in a dark mood. Richard said, ‘Is that Bill talking or is that Bob Wiley talking?’ Bill grabbed a glass and said, ‘This is Bill talking,’ and he heaved the glass about 10 feet up in the air against a huge high fireplace. Glass scattered all over the room. Richard stood up and left.”
Oz was present during the incident and said he remembers it clearly. While Dreyfuss later described the glass as being thrown at him, and Murray said it landed nearby, Oz confirmed the object did not hit anyone but acknowledged the moment was intense.
Another story involved a confrontation between Murray and the film’s late producer, Laura Ziskin. During a disagreement about giving the crew a day off, Murray reportedly crushed Ziskin’s glasses. Dreyfuss referred to the incident as “pretty wacky,” but Oz suggested the action was motivated by a desire to defend crew members. “I thought at the time he crushed her glasses for personal reasons, but it makes sense to hear it was for the crew,” he said. “He really cared about the crew.”
Communication on set deteriorated further when Oz and Dreyfuss stopped speaking directly. According to both, an assistant director was brought in to serve as an intermediary. Dreyfuss said Oz had previously barred Ziskin from the set, which added to the tension. Oz later attempted to reach out. “Years later, I wrote to him and said what a brilliant job he did,” he said. “I never did hear back. I’m not sure why. Maybe he still had a problem with me. He had a reason to have a problem with me. It was a tough shoot, and my job was to keep going forward.”
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Dreyfuss remains unwilling to reconnect with Murray, more than three decades after the film’s release. “We left on bad terms,” he said. He described a moment when he tried to reach Murray by visiting a restaurant owned by the actor’s family, but Murray wasn’t there and no further effort was made.
Dreyfuss acknowledged that Murray is one reason the film has remained in the public eye. Still, he made it clear he has no interest in repairing the relationship.
Oz, now long removed from the production, reflected on the experience as one shaped by high stakes and complicated personalities. “We all have imperfections,” he said. “They come out when we’re in this heightened crucible of making a movie.”
