Cannes 2019: Selena Gomez finally unravels the mystery around that viral Bill Murray picture
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- Kayleigh Dray
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Bill Murray whispered something in Selena Gomez’s ear on the Cannes 2019 red carpet – and the world lost its shit. Now, she’s revealed what he actually said…
Earlier this year, Selena Gomez and Bill Murray hit the Cannes 2019 red carpet as they attended the world premiere of The Dead Don’t Die, an upcoming zombie thriller they’re both starring in.
But, while there’s a LOT to say about the movie (think an eerie self-aware masterpiece from director Jim Jarmusch), all anyone could focus on was the fact that Murray whispered something in his co-star’s ear while they did their step-and-repeat. The absolute scandal.
This, coupled with Gomez’s playful response, sent the internet into “alert the elders” overdrive. Because, as we all know, two people of the opposite sex can never just be friends or colleagues: every little exchange has to mean something, every meh moment has to be the defining moment of their relationship, and every single whisper must betray a secret worth finding out. Rather than, y’know, someone leaning in to be heard over the clamour of the watching paparazzi.
Now, sitting down with Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight Show, Gomez has finally revealed what her co-star was actually saying.
“It wasn’t even… first off, that kind of looks weird,” Gomez said of the photo that Fallon showed the audience.
“But he was just saying dumb things, like he would just lean in and be like, ‘You look great tonight.’ And then he’d look back seriously and be like, ‘Where are you from?’ And I would just sit there, and I’m trying to be poised. It was fine.”
She added: “That’s what he did with all the time. In press conferences, he’d try to hit me with things. Yeah, it’s just he’s fun. He’s a big kid.”
When asked about the viral moment, Murray told Vanity Fair that he couldn’t recall what he whispered into the Gomez’s ear.
“I don’t remember what I said,” he replied, laughing at the ridiculousness of the question. “I was trying to keep her at ease. I really like her.”
Revealing his less-than-exciting nickname for his co-star, he added: “I mean, you still can’t tell me who the hell ‘Selena Gomez’ is – but Gomez… I really like. She’s unusually bright. She’s kind and she’s natural. I’m always pleased to find some kind of pop icon who I really like.”
And, rolling his eyes at the idea there’s anything romantic between the pair, he informed the press: “I feel like I’m her bodyguard. I said, ‘Look, I’ll be your boyfriend if that’s what you want… I’m a fixer-up, I’ll tell you that, Gomez.’”
Murray later added to People: “If my mother were alive I’d bring [Gomez] home to her.
“I learned that I like her. I learned that whatever preconception I had about someone that had 55 million billion followers of something – I probably thought she was different than she turned out to be.”
Gomez previously poked fun at the furore around the photos, taking to Instagram to announced that she is “getting married” to the legendary comedian.
“My first time in Cannes! I’m so honored to have been a part of this movie with Jim [Jarmusch] and the whole cast,” she wrote, alongside a solo shot of her on the red carpet.
“By the way Bill Murray and I are getting married.”
As well as Gomez and Murray, The Dead Don’t Die boasts an all-star cast: think Adam Driver, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, Austin Butler, RZA, Tilda Swinton, Tom Waits, Danny Glover, Caleb Landry Jones, Rosie Perez and Carol Kane, to name just a few.
The official plot synopsis reads: “In the sleepy small town of Centerville, something is not quite right. The moon hangs large and low in the sky, the hours of daylight are becoming unpredictable, and animals are beginning to exhibit unusual behaviors. News reports are scary, and scientists are concerned, but no one foresees the strangest and most dangerous repercussion that will soon start plaguing Centerville: the dead rise from their graves and feast on the living, and the citizens must battle to survive.”
Check out the trailer for The Dead Don’t Die below:
Image: Getty