Lost in Translation: Behind the Scenes & Facts

Here is a list of behind the scenes photos and facts of the movie Lost in Translation

Sofia Coppola wanted Bill Murray—and only Bill Murray—for the lead role

Mutual friend Mitch Glazer showed Murray an early draft of Coppola’s script for the movie. Murray liked enough of what he read to meet Coppola at a downtown New York restaurant with some of his friends. Murray and Coppola talked for five hours, though very little of their conversation was about the movie. Murray agreed to do it, but did not sign a contract. She went so far as to say that if she hadn’t been able to get Murray she probably wouldn’t have gone ahead with the film.

Lost in Translation

Murray and Johansson don’t have any dialogue together until a full 32 minutes into the film, and their characters never actually introduce themselves to each other

Lost in Translation

Scarlett Johansson was only 17 at the time of filming

Lost in Translation

At one point the crew was almost arrested

They were filming in Tokyo and at the Shubuya Crossing when they were threatened with arrest. Perhaps they forgot to obtain the correct permits.

Lost in Translation

Bill Murray said this is the favorite of all his own films

Lost in Translation

Murray and Johansson needed an extra day with the scene in bed

Coppola claimed it was the toughest scene to film. “I don’t know if they just weren’t in a good mood, but they weren’t getting along and it wasn’t going well,” Coppola told The Daily Beast. “So we just stopped and tried again the next day. I just remember it being a bit tense, but it’s just such an intimate moment.”

The kiss at the end of the movie was an ad-libbed part

Nobody knows for sure what Bob said to Charlotte in the end

Some digital processing performed by curious Internet folk have drawn different conclusions. Some versions indicate that Bob tells Charlotte to tell her husband John “the truth.” In the script, Coppola wrote Bob’s line as, “I know, I’m going to miss you, too.” Back in 2003, Bill Murray was asked if we can know what he said. His response: “You never will.”