Bill Murray covers the November issue of Vanity Fair to promote (to a lesser degree) Rock the Kasbah and (to the greatest degree ever) A Very Murray Christmas, his Netflix special with Sofia Coppola. This interview, which is lengthy, could restore your faith in the world. Hanging out and having a bloody mary with Bill Murray on Christmas morning would be the greatest gift one could ever receive. The journalist obviously adores him, as do most people and the whole interview so endearing that I’d hurl if we weren’t talking about This Man. The Murricane. Bill Ghostbustin’ A** Murray.

Many topics come up, including how he loves working with Coppola, the time he spent in North Africa, and that he loves Charleston. They discuss how he drives aimlessly when he needs to think and his status as a legend. He also explains why he decided to make a holiday special, but you’ll have to read the full piece because it’s so life affirming. Bill Murray is a real-life Santa Claus, you know? Here’s some excepts, including the reason why he decided to step away from his run of serious movies (like Broken Flowers):

Film critic Elvis Mitchell made Murray turn to funny movies again: “Well, it was very generous of him to say, ‘Look, your life is very melancholy right now and you’re doing melancholy movies. So what do you think’s gonna happen? It’s just gonna get worse.’ Which is what was happening. For years I’d been thinking, ‘Gosh, I’d really like to be funny again.’ You know? ‘I’d really like to go and be funny again.’ Because it’s like writing. If you can write, you need to write. And if you can be funny, you need to be funny.”

His response when offered extra onion rings: “No, thank you. I’m an athlete.”

On fame: “You know, being famous is obviously not a Devil’s deal. I love the opportunity to work. It’s the thing I do best. I’m a much better person when I’m working. I’m at my absolute best, because it’s the ultimate terror. It’s the ultimate terror that I will not arrive, the ultimate terror that I am not. You know? That I am not. But I don’t feel that needy for the celebrity part of it. You have your inside voice, and you have your outside voice, like little kids. Well, my outside voice is the ‘Bill Murray’ that people know. And my inside voice is—is me. And sometimes that voice is heard. I can speak it aloud, when I’m really at my best. You can hear my inside voice.”

[From Vanity Fair]

There’s so much more to discover in the piece, including a special Bill Murray Christmas tale about how he bought Christmas presents as a kid with no money. He tried to buy gifts that were both practical and functional, and it didn’t quite work out, but Christmas is a time when all the dreadfulness of the previous year is forgotten. Murray then goes off on a tangent about his inner self and how he feels “shallow” most of the time but tries to overcome it. He encounters fans and behaves gregariously to their delight. There’s also a discussion of how John Belushi used to introduce him as “the new kid,” Billy Murray. Go read the interview!

Photos courtesy of Vanity Fair & WENN