Scarlett Johansson reflects on the 20th anniversary of ‘Lost in Translation’

Actress Scarlett Johansson looks back on “Lost in Translation,” which she starred in alongside Bill Murray, as the movie celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment’s Ethan Alter while promoting the new “Asteroid City,” she discusses what Murray might have whispered in Charlotte’s ear at the end of the movie.

Video Transcript

ETHAN ALTER: Scarlett, this September is the 20th anniversary of "Lost in Translation," and the internet thinks they've solved what Bill Murray says to you at the end of the movie.

SCARLETT JOHANSSON: OK.

ETHAN ALTER: They think he says, I have to be leaving, but I won't let them-- I won't let that come between us. OK?

SCARLETT JOHANSSON: Whoa.

ETHAN ALTER: Can you confirm or deny that's what he says?

SCARLETT JOHANSSON: That sounds pretty profound, probably way more profound than what was actually said. I don't know. I'm not sure about that. I give that like a B minus, maybe.

ETHAN ALTER: Thinking back on that film, I mean, obviously, the depiction of a friendship between an older man and a younger woman would be a harder thing to do today. Do you think that movie could be made in the same way? How do you think a modern-day version of that could be?

SCARLETT JOHANSSON: Yeah. I mean, it feels like a very-- anyway, it's a relationship between two people, and you know, I think it's sort of timeless in that way. You know? I think the relationship-- the way those two characters affect one another is really profound, and I think it's-- I don't know-- you watch it and you don't judge it. It's just two people that come together in this circumstance that's sort of foreign.

They're out of their body. They're out of what's familiar to them, and it's because of that they connect with one another. Like feel like if they met any other place or any other time, they wouldn't be as vulnerable to connecting in that way.