While the cast of the Ghostbusters reboot has been controversial to say the least, that controversy is one of the reasons that the new film has become so highly anticipated. All eyes are on Ghostbusters’ four lead women of Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones. However, several other women were considered for the parts, and director Paul Feig now explains why one of them, Jennifer Lawrence, was not able to join the project.
As is often the case, it comes down to scheduling. Paul Feig tells Yahoo that while he did have dinner with Jennifer Lawrence, and tried to get her on board for Ghostbusters, the actress' commitment to X-Men: Apocalypse stopped any discussion before it ever really got started.
I’m desperate to work with her, but I didn’t even entertain it very long because I just knew the schedules didn’t sync up at all. We had such a very definitive window to shoot it in.
X-Men: Apocalypse will be hitting screens May 27 and Ghostbusters will be out July 15. One has to guess these movies were both filming alongside each other, which would have made it impossible for Jennifer Lawrence to appear in both. It’s not entirely clear if Lawrence would have absolutely taken the role if she had been free. Several other actresses were considered or approached to potentially join the new Ghostbusters team, including Emma Stone, Anne Hathaway, and Rebel Wilson. It’s possible it was actually difficult to find four women willing to answer the call.
We have to assume that Jennifer Lawrence would have been considered for the role now being taken by Kristen Wiig. We know that the plot of the film will unfold primarily from her perspective, though both Wiig and Melissa McCarthy have been described as the lead in Ghostbusters. One does not generally cast Jennifer Lawrence in supporting roles these days. Although, we think putting her in the Kate McKinnon engineer role could have made for some comedy gold.
Paul Feig has been making a career out of directing great women in great movies, so we’d guess it’s only a matter of time before he does have his chance to work with Jennifer Lawrence. The two could almost certainly put something wonderful on the screen. This is a pairing that needs to happen. It doesn’t need to be Ghostbusters, but it needs to be something.
Depending on what you think of the Ghostbusters reboot to begin with, you may have a very different opinion as to whether a team that included Jennifer Lawrence would be an improvement or not. Let us know your thoughts below.
