Opus’ Murray Bartlett: ‘I don’t know why I die a lot’
A24's Opus is in cinemas today.
Murray Bartlett is one of the stars of the new film Opus, and in a candid chat, he opened up about being repeatedly killed off on screen.
The Australian actor, 53, has been in the industry for decades but came into mainstream consciousness after his appearance as Armond in the 2021 series The White Lotus.
The actor played the hotel manager, who was stabbed to death accidentally by a hotel guest who mistakes him for an intruder in his room.
Following this iconic role, he went on to appear in The Last of Us as yet another character who ends up being killed off on-screen – albeit in a rather more unfunny way.
‘I don’t know why I die a lot on the screen, but you know, I’m not mad at it. My character in White Lotus dies at the end, and there’s something very right about that,’ he told Metro.
‘And there’s something great in a way of that’s the life of that character in that one season. Some of the other characters could come back. He couldn’t like, he’s gone.’
Murray Bartlett has revealed his confusion when it comes to being killed off repeatedly on screen (Picture: AP) Murray also was applauded for his role as Frank in The Last of Us (Picture: HBO)He then joked: ‘I mean, it’s a little scary because then you’re like, I’m now unemployed, but also it’s like, now I get to go on to the next adventure.
‘But when it starts to happen again and again, you’re like, “man, I better bring something different this time, I guess,” seeing as I’ve already died several times.’
While discussing his White Lotus character – best known for some of his more unhinged behaviour – he admitted that the season one cast were lucky that they got to set the bar for shock value in the show.
‘Because it was the first season, no one knew what to expect. And so the sort of surprise factor to those shocking scenes was new.
‘Now you kind of expect that there’s going to be those things that set quite a high bar for shock.
His appearance in the show earned several awards, including an Emmy (Picture: TNS)‘We were fortunate in that we were the sort of pioneers of the shock value of The White Lotus. I feel very lucky to be part of that. And I got quite a good helping of those shocking scenes.’
Murray is gearing up for even more shocking scenes as he is set to star in A24’s new movie Opus with Ayo Edeberi and John Malkovich.
The film focuses on a group of journalists who are invited to pop sensation Alfred Moretti’s home to hear about his grand return to music. Of course, things take a very sinister turn and it appears that the group is very much in danger.
Murray stars in the film as Stan Sullivan, a music editor who works alongside Ayo’s character Ariel Ecton and takes every opportunity to dismiss her ideas and put her down.
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Previous Page Next PageSpeaking about Stan, the actor revealed that the director – Mark Anthony Green – based the character on a real person.
‘He was sort of based on someone who started and ran the Rolling Stone for a very long time. And not specifically, just a compilation of those kind of guys that are sort of in that old boys’ club.
‘The ones that have been in the music business for a long, long time. And, you know, feel kind of entitled in their position.’
He added: ‘There’s a kind of arrogance and a bit of a patronising, you know, misogynistic kind of vibe, that we were sort of hoping to get.’
The actor revealed that he wasn’t even meant to be involved in the project, but was won over by the incredible director.
Ayo, Juliette Lewis and Murray all star in this new film (Picture: AP)‘I was meant to leave and go to Australia and see my family. And then the film came up, and he [Anthony Green] talked me into doing the film, because he’s so incredibly charming and I really loved the material.’
Opus’ message is a criticism of celebrity-obsessed culture, which Murray argues is ‘really worth looking at at the moment’.
‘The film brings up about celebrity culture and how we treat celebrities, and how and people in power like that, that we kind of can tend to deify them or put them on a pedestal.’
He explained that it can be dangerous as it means that if they do something ‘crazy or unacceptable’, we just ‘laugh it off or think of it as a quirk’.
‘The way that we view celebrities in our kind of, you know, obsession with celebrity is fascinating to look at.
‘The film kind of plays with those ideas, and also the flip side of it, as a celebrity, what does that do to you? How does that feel?
‘Celebrity culture is very fickle. So, you know, one day you can be, you know, top of the world, and the next day people are tearing you down.’
The actor plays Stan in Opus (Picture: AP)Murray has seen his fame increase dramatically in recent years but has found that for him it’s a ‘lovely thing’ as ‘it’s not at a level where it’s sort of out of control.’
‘I love if people respond to my work or it has some sort of resonance with them. Yeah, it’s not, it’s not a, it’s not a bad thing for me.’
He added that he still finds award shows ‘trippy’ and running into big-name celebrities is still rather exciting, but fame is something to always be ‘mindful’ of as an actor.
How does he manage fame? ‘I advise living in the woods.’
He jokes: ‘I mean, I’m very big in the squirrel community. I think they know me, but they’re very respectful.’
Opus is released in cinemas on March 14.
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