Murphy replied, "I don't think there is a story between Naya and Leah. I always marvel at the things that become headline news that most of the time are completely fabricated. Naya's coming back next year, Lea's coming back next year, anybody ever in that cast has an open invitation to come back and finish the character they so beautifully started."

He also spoke about his passion project "The Normal Heart," a film written by Larry Kramer about a gay activist and his attempts to raise HIV/AIDS awareness during the early 1980s.

Murphy, also a writer, explained, "It's the first thing I've directed that I didn't write, so I always felt like a very protective parent. I don't think I'd have the civil rights I have today without Larry Kramer, so I guess in some weird way it was me saying 'Thanks for life.' That's what I felt in my heart every day I worked on it."