The on-screen chemistry between Don Murray and Marilyn Monroe was electric in 1956's "Bus Stop," but behind the scenes things were not so rosy. Monroe captivated audiences with her beauty and talent, but she also suffered from crippling anxiety that caused tension on set of the film, Murray revealed in a tel- all interview with Closer Weekly.
"She was very, very nervous," the now 89-year-old actor said, according to Fox News. Monroe would allegedly get so anxious that she would break out in hives, which make up artists had to cover up. Murray noted that his costar struggled during filming of "Bus Stop," which tells the story of a cowboy who falls madly in love with a saloon girl who he tries to force her to go back with him to his Montana ranch to get married. One scene in particular sprung to Murray's mind.
"We had a scene where she was naked in bed, and she kept rolling around and accidentally exposing herself," he recalled, according to Fox News. Eventually director Joshua Logan asked the actor to use his hand to cover her whenever she rolled over.
Adding to their frustration, Monroe allegedly kept missing her marks and Logan asked Murray to help guide her. Monroe was not impressed.
"[Once] she swung the sequined tail of her costume across my face and it cut my eyelid," said Murray. "She stalked off the set, and I started after her. I was going to tell that spoiled brat where to get off, but Joshua said, 'No, I’ve won the war by avoiding these battles.'"
Despite the setbacks, the team managed to wrap up filming without any major incident and Murray said he never held any of it against his costar.
"For her to agree to let me play this leading role was such a generous thing; she and I had never done a movie," he said. "I was always aware of that and grateful to her."
Murray's recount of what it was like to work alongside Monroe tells the story of an actress in turmoil. There have been numerous other reports of Monroe that echoes similar themes but Claudia Kalb, author of "Andy Warhol Was a Hoarder: Inside the Minds of History’s Great Personalities" noted that Monroe suffered from a severe mental health disorder.
"I did not realize the extent to which she suffered. I knew her as the Hollywood actress with that beautiful, glamorous look. But I did not know the internal chaos that she struggled with throughout her life, or the extent to which she sought help and craved answers and wished she could make her life better," said Kalb, according to National Geographic.
"She had such a difficult early childhood. She was given up early to a foster family and lived in an orphanage for some time. That explains her lifelong quest for security, love, and family."
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