independent-minded, film-makers: Wes Anderson, Jarmusch and Sofia Coppola. With them, he reinvented himself.
For Anderson, he was a
somewhat sinister industrialist in Rushmore, Gwyneth Paltrow's
uptight husband in The Royal Tenenbaums, and, most recently, nonchalantly funny as a washed-up marine explorer in The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou,
appearing much of the time in a wetsuit and capitalizing on the
pathos and sense of expected failure that have always been enjoyable elements in his performances.
Murray's second wife, Jennifer Butler, is at home in Los Angeles. She rarely travels with him because they have three young sons.
"I know what it's like to be that stranger's voice calling in," he admits.
There is also that little-discussed subject -- loneliness.
"The oddest feeling of all was after the death of my mother, Lucille, 10 years ago. My father had already died, but I always had some attachment to our big family while she was alive. She was from the previous generation, which kept us all going. She was always interested in all of us and would pass on all the news from various uncles and aunts. But when she died, I felt bereft. It seems strange to say now that I felt so lonely, yet I did ... I feel like shedding a tear here and now just talking about it."
You wouldn't have known. Murray's face does not change much. An occasional frown, perhaps, or a tightness around the eyes, an overall impression that he would rather not be here talking about himself.
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