Bill Murray gave The Dead Dont Die co-star Selena Gomez perhaps the ultimate compliment: Hed have wanted her to meet a very important person in his life if he had known Gomez years ago.

If my mother were alive Id bring her home to her, Murray told People on Monday at the New York City premiere of The Dead Dont Die. Acting out the encounter, the Oscar-nominated actor lightheartedly began: Mother, I want you to meet Selena.

Murray, 68, and the Same Old Love singer, 26, have formed a sweet rapport in shooting and promoting director Jim Jarmuschs zombie flick.

Murray told People that he had misjudged Gomez before working with her on the film.

I learned that I like her, he said. 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.

At the Cannes Film Festival, where the movie made its official premiere, Murray said he whispered to Gomez as they walked the red carpet to keep her at ease. It was her first time at the prestigious movie gathering.

Shes unusually bright, Murray told Vanity Fair at the time. Shes kind and shes natural. Im always pleased to find some kind of pop icon who I really like.

The feeling seems mutual. At Cannes, Gomez joked on her Instagram: By the way Bill Murray and I are getting married.