(Credits: Far Out / Focus Features)
Even though he’s developed a habit of showing up in the most random places at the most unexpected times, if Bill Murray doesn’t want to be found, then he makes it nigh-on impossible to track him down.
That comes with the territory for someone who doesn’t have an agent, a mobile phone, or much interest in answering the telephone he does have, with the actor even remarking to IndieWire that he was left flummoxed when it kept on ringing: “I had a house phone, and it would just ring and ring. Finally, I’d pick up the phone, and I’d say, ‘Who in the fuck is calling me and letting my phone ring like that?’” he said.
Adding: “The agent would say, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, I’m calling for so-and-so.’ I’d say, ‘Look, you can’t do this. This is my house. If I don’t answer the phone, don’t do that because you’re making me not like you.’”
As a result, a toll-free number was installed that Murray may or may not check all that often, even if Wes Anderson has absolutely no issues in hounding him out, given their close bond. That puts him firmly in the minority, though, as Sofia Coppola discovered to much frustration after refusing to even consider the prospect of casting anybody else as Bob Harris in Lost in Translation.
She was proven entirely correct after her script won an Academy Award for ‘Best Original Screenplay’, with Murray nominated for ‘Best Actor’ to go along with her additional recognition in the ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’ categories. Of course, the most difficult part was reaching him in the first place.
Speaking to the American Film Institute, Coppola outlined several of the many obstacles she had to overcome: “Bill Murray’s just really elusive and hard to track down. People said, ‘Oh, I hope you have a couple of years,” she sighed. “I just couldn’t think of anyone else. It was Bill Murray. So I just asked everyone I knew if anybody knew Bill Murray.”
Revealing that she felt as though it was never going to happen after she left him a message through the aforementioned voicemail, only for her phone to not be working on the day he called her back. After that, they’d finally arranged a meeting just for Murray to cancel on short notice, so it’s understandable why the filmmaker was beginning to grow so exasperated trying to land her one and only choice for the part.
When the pair finally got together and met face-to-face, Murray ended up agreeing to star in the project, with Coppola’s determination turning out to be well worth it in the long run. She was adamant she wouldn’t make Lost in Translation with anybody else, but it took a lot of legwork to get there.