Paul Rudd is the perfect age to have grown up on the original Ghostbusters films. Born in 1969, Rudd would have been a teenager when Ghostbusters dropped in 1984, and you know that his comedy and aspirations of being an actor probably sprung from seeing Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, and Dan Aykroyd as the original busters of ghosts. There’s no way that he could have known he’d one day appear in a Ghostbusters movie alongside to O.G. actors, but it’s happening this week. Rudd is a cast member in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, a sequel to the original two films that’s directed by Jason Reitman. Rudd’s not a Ghostbuster in the movie, but he pretended to be one on set one day. He tells the story above.
Looking back on the original Ghostbusters movie, there are important characters who shine alongside the main team. Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis are just as important to the comedy as Murray, Ramis and Aykroyd. Paul Rudd plays a part like that in Ghostbusters: Afterlife. He is the science teacher for Mckenna Grace’s character, Phoebe, and it’s his encouragement into the unknown that pushes her investigation of the movie’s central mystery.
Paul Rudd, however, doesn’t get to pick up a proton pack in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, but during a recent press day, I asked if he at least went over to the props department on set to pretend to be a Ghostbuster, if even for a little while. Because if you grew up on this stuff, you just HAVE to do that. Rudd didn’t disappoint, telling CinemaBlend:
I didn’t get to try one on, but I did get to hold one, look at it, and inspect it. It was off to the side, and there was no way I wasn’t going to go and inspect it. I didn’t dare pick it up and put it on. I thought, ‘I don’t want to get kicked off set.’ But I do get to hold a ghost trap. That’s not a bad consolation prize.
We see the moment that Paul Rudd is speaking of in the trailers for Ghostbusters: Afterlife. His character teaches summer school, and sees that Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) has unearthed a ghost trap from the floorboards of her grandfather’s deserted home. Rudd recognizes it immediately, then fills Phoebe in on the events of Ghostbusters 1984, when four men protected New York City from supernatural threats.
Don’t feel too bad for Paul Rudd, though. He gets to do plenty of other very cool Ghostbustery things in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, many of which I can not share because they would be deemed spoilers. But you will be able to see for yourself what they are now that the movie finally is heading to theaters. I predict that Ghostbusters: Afterlife will be the go-to movie for families and nostalgia heads this weekend, and over the Thanksgiving holiday, so grab a turkey leg and head on out to the theaters.
