If it's true that opposites attract, it was only a matter of time before Sofia Coppola and Bill Murray found each another. Though she hails from a celebrated movie family, her stunning directorial debut--the plaintive, poignant The Virgin Suicides (2000)--immediately established the soft-spoken 32-year-old as a talent all her own, and one of the cinema's most adventurous filmmakers. Murray, on the other hand, since breaking through on Saturday Night Live, has had a long, boisterous comedic-acting career that at various times has taken successful and bold turns toward the dramatic. Thus, it seems fitting that Coppola's new film starring Murray and Scarlett Johansson, Lost in Translation, be a daring stroke of storytelling. The actor plays Bob Harris, a sleep deprived, lonely movie star in Tokyo to shoot a whiskey commercial; there he befriends Johansson's equally isolated recent college graduate. Tender, soulful, and subtle, the film tells the stow of a moment, itself a gutsy move in an industry enamored with neat closure.

SOFIA COPPOLA: What should I ask you?

BILL MURRAY: A good question would be, When you look back on the movie, do you have a good feeling or a bad feeling?

SC: When you look back on the movie, do you have a good feeling or a bad feeling?

BM: Good question. I really feel like we made use of all the opportunities of working in Tokyo, and working quickly, and with a small crew, and with another language as a sort of ...

SC: An obstacle?

BM: Well, not an obstacle. More like a challenge. I really enjoyed Tokyo. I enjoyed working with you. And I enjoyed working with the Japanese crew when we finally got so we understood each other.

SC: It took a little while, huh? Do you remember any of the Japanese you learned?

BM: "Dare-ni mukatte mono itten-dayo?" [Coppola laughs] "Who do you think you're talking to?" It came in handy. And it made everyone laugh.

SC: So this is Interview's special issue on daring duos and doers. Have you ever taken a big risk and regretted it?

BM: Not really--and I'm not just saying that because it sounds right. If you put everything into something and it fails, you don't fail on every level. When you risk a lot and you fail, it's never just a failure because you're challenging yourself on so many levels. I mean, the movies that fail at the box office are often the most interesting to do.

SC: You learn something.

BM: Yeah, there's a lot of reward to it.

SC: Did you consider coming to Tokyo risky, then?