Scarlett Johansson on 'Therapeutic' Reunion with Former Costar Bill Murray

"There was only one person at the bar, and it was Bill Murray," Johansson said of randomly running into her Lost in Translation costar

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 02: Scarlett Johansson attends an event hosted by David Yurman in support of Lower Eastside Girls Club at David Yurman 57th St on November 02, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Monica Schipper/Getty Images for David Yurman); Mandatory Credit: Photo by Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock (13780492sa) Bill Murray 29th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, Arrivals, Los Angeles, California, USA - 26 Feb 2023
Photo: Monica Schipper/Getty; Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock

Scarlett Johannson is recalling the time she randomly reconnected with Bill Murray.

The Black Widow actress, 38, opened up to host Gwyneth Paltrow on Tuesday's episode of the Goop podcast about unexpectedly running into her former costar 10-plus years after they filmed 2003's Lost in Translation.

"I didn't see him for a decade or more. It was a long time," Johansson began. "And then I walked into a bar with my ex-boyfriend from a long time ago ... and there was only one person at the bar and it was Bill Murray."

"It was so weird," she continued. "I walked in, and I saw him sitting there — nobody else there — and I was like, 'Oh my God.' I had to walk out. I was like, 'It's Bill! I haven't seen him in so long.' "

"It had been a decade of time, more than a decade of time. [I was] like 'All right, I guess I'll have to go and see what's up.'"

LOST IN TRANSLATION
Everett Collection

"It was such a weird moment. It was like a dream," the two-time Oscar nominee said of seeing Murray, 72, there after all those years. "And then I went in there and he was also surprised. Actually, it was kind of therapeutic. We sort of talked through that time."

Johansson recalled of their experiences of filming Lost in Translation together, "I think it was hard for him too because he had a lot of stuff going on with his family and his marriage. And it was like he was also not totally knowing what we were doing out there in Tokyo over those weeks."

"It was, I think, his way of coping was being really sort of manic in this way. I don't know, we had a cathartic experience in that weird bar," she added.

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Johansson and Murray played opposite each other in Sofia Coppola's second feature film, Lost in Translation. The 2003 romantic comedy-drama follows out-of-work actor Bob (Murray), who travels to Tokyo in the midst of his mid-life crisis to promote a whisky brand. There, he meets recent college graduate Charlotte (Johansson), also struggling with what to make of her future.

Murray was accused of sexual misconduct on the set of the movie Being Mortal in April 2022. At the time, he spoke to CNBC, saying he "had a difference of opinion" with a woman working on the production.

Other actors, including Lucy Liu, Geena Davis and Seth Green, have since spoken out and shared negative experiences of working with him on set.

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