Bill Murray has said it’s only natural he’s now playing movie elders.

The 64-year-old stars in St Vincent as a crotchety old neighbour who forms an unlikely friendship with a 12-year-old living nearby.

The Ghostbusters and Lost In Translation star said: “I’m ‘a mature’, not mature, but I’m an older fellow than I was, right?

“So working with a younger director, whether that’s Wes Anderson [on The Royal Tenenbaums] or Ted Melfi [for St Vincent], it’s automatic that I would fulfil the part of an uncle or father-in-law or neighbour.”

A picture of the St Vincent cast as the film's premiere
Bill Murray stars in St Vincent (Evan Agostini/Invision/Press Association Images)

He said the movie’s plot was one he immediately liked.

“The script was different. You’re not drenched in [emotion],” he said. “You just get it. It comes at you, and it comes as the natural outcome of the way the plot goes.”

St Vincent is released in cinemas on Friday, December 5.