Scarlett Johansson Revealed How Sofia Coppola Convinced Her to Wear Underwear in ‘Lost in Translation’
Actor Scarlett Johansson made quite the big impression in Lost in Translation alongside Bill Murray. The role required her to dig deep into the character’s deepest emotions, but director Sofia Coppola also asked for her to occasionally wear her underwear on camera. Johansson recalled how Coppola convinced her to wear a specific pair of underwear for Lost in Translation.
Scarlett Johansson played Charlotte in ‘Lost in Translation’
Lost in Translation sees Murray and Johansson starring in the lead roles, who ultimately find something special in one another in Tokyo, Japan, that they were lacking. He stars as Bob Harris, an American actor going through a midlife crisis. Meanwhile, she plays Charlotte, a young woman still finding her place in the world.
Murray went on to earn an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, but he lost the gold statue to Sean Penn for his performance in Mystic River. However, Johansson didn’t earn a nomination for her performance in Lost in Translation, which continues to earn critical praise.
‘Lost in Translation’ filmmaker Sofia Coppola convinced Scarlett Johansson to wear underwear during filming
In an interview with Rebecca Murray shared on Live About, Johansson talked about some of the more intimate moments in Lost in Translation. Coppola once told the press that the actor was a “good sport” about wearing underwear during filming. Johansson explained how the filmmaker got her to feel comfortable.
“I’d been eating so much Udon, I just thought, ‘Oh my God, I’m so not going to look decent in these underwear,'” Johansson said. “I really didn’t want to wear those underwear because I was so bloated from eating all of this Udon all of the time. She was like, ‘Well you know, it’d be nice if you could wear these underwear,’ because that was what was written in the script.”
Johansson continued: “And she was like, ‘But I understand if you’re uncomfortable.’ She said, ‘Why don’t I try these on for you? You could see how they look. Just see how they look and if you don’t want to do it, then, of course, you don’t have to.’ I was like, ‘Alright, that’s a pretty good deal.’ And of course, Sofia is lanky and skinny, [with a] very sort of elegant body and so she looked fantastic in the underwear. That’s how she got me to wear them.”
The actor played a character older than herself at the time
Murray pointed out that Johansson played a character five years older than herself in Lost in Translation, so she wanted to know her experience with that. It didn’t bother her too much, but there was a specific element of preparation that she put into her performance.
“I guess I didn’t really think about it that much,” Johansson said about her age in Lost in Translation. “The only time that I was really aware of it was when I was putting on my wedding band. Other than that, you think about it, and it’s like, ‘Five years here, five years there. No big deal.'”
Johansson continued: “The only prep that I really did was with Giovanni [Ribisi]. We did two days of rehearsal just so that you can get a feel of some kind of marriage between us, so that we weren’t just meeting for the first time and going, “Let’s get into bed now,” and that kind of thing. [To also capture] that sort of dynamic that comes with marriage where you love the person, and at that time, you’re in different places.”
