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Typically, Christmas movies are full of light-hearted fun and silly jokes, but the same couldn’t be said about Scrooged. The Bill Murray film is one of the many takes on A Christmas Carol, with Murray starring as Frank Cross, inspired by Ebenezer Scrooge. Scrooged differs from other versions because it’s a cynical comedy, but it still has the same happy ending. And Scrooged features a star-studded cast, including one actor who accidentally beat up Murray.

Bill Murray, who was a part of the 'Scrooged' cast, wears a light gray tweed suit over a dark blue button-up shirt and light yellow tie.
Bill Murray | Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

Who was in the cast of ‘Scrooged’?

Aside from Bill Murray, the Scrooged cast includes a wide variety of famous actors. It includes:

  • Karen Allen as Claire Phillips
  • Carol Kane as the Ghost of Christmas Present
  • John Forsythe as Lew Hayward
  • Robert Mitchum as Preston Rhinelander
  • Bobcat Goldthwait as Eliot Loudermilk
  • Michael J. Pollard as Herman
  • Alfre Woodard as Grace Cooley
  • John Glover as Brice Cummings
  • David Johansen as the Ghost of Christmas Past
  • Mary Ellen Trainor as Ted
  • Mabel King as Gramma
  • Wendie Malick as Wendie Cross
  • Maria Riva as Mrs. Rhinelander

The film also includes various cameos, including Lee Majors, Miles Davis, Paul Shaffer, Larry Carlton, David Sanborn, John Houseman, Robert Goulet, Mary Lou Retton, and many more. Plus, Murray’s brothers — Joel, Brian, and John — were all a part of the Scrooged cast.

Carol Kane hurt her fellow cast member on the set of ‘Scrooged’

So which cast member accidentally injured Bill Murray while filming Scrooged in 1988? The answer is Carol Kane, who played the Ghost of Christmas Present, depicted as a fairy. As fans recall, Kane’s character is consistently hitting, kicking, or hurting Murray’s character in some way in the film. But one time, the gag went a little too far.

According to Mental Floss, in the scene where Frank meets the Ghost of Christmas Present, she pulls on his bottom lip and moves it around. However, during one take, she actually injured the actor.

“There’s a piece of skin that connects your lip with your gums, and it was really pulled away,” Murray said. “She really hurt me, but it was my idea to be physical, and it was her idea just to hit me as opposed to pulling the punches.”

Production had to pause after the accident to allow Murray’s mouth to heal. So the Scrooged cast took a small break while filming the Christmas movie.

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How to watch ‘Scrooged’

We have good news for fans of Bill Murray’s Scrooged — there are multiple ways to watch the star-studded cast this holiday season.

The movie is free to watch on Pluto TV. And for those who have subscriptions to Amazon Prime Video or Paramount+, Scrooged is available to stream on those platforms.

Fans can also rent or buy the Christmas movie from Redbox, YouTube, Google Play, Vudu, or Apple TV. Plus, MTV will be airing Scrooged several times on Christmas Eve in December 2022.

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