Bill Murray on ‘Ghostbusters’ Reboot: ‘I Feel Like a Stepfather to It’
The Ghostbusters of past and present united on Jimmy Kimmel Live Wednesday. The new cast discussed the first time they saw the 1984 hit, and the original cast expressed their exuberance about the tough-to-pull-off remake.
Joining Jimmy Kimmel was the entire 2016 crew — Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon — and from 1984 original, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson and Annie Potts (co-star Harold Ramis died in 2014). When Kimmel asked the new Ghostbusters when they first saw the original, McKinnon cracked, “I was in utero — and God I laughed,” while McCarthy revealed: “I was in Plainfield, Illinois, I was 14, I may have seen it repeatedly, like a lot in the theater, like a lot a lot.”
The old cast also spoke about their involvement in the new movie and what made them want to go forward with this version after having been pitched so many reboots over the years. While it came down to the cast’s pure talent, Murray did acknowledge how difficult it was to pull-off a film with such a big concept and equally large expectations around it.
“It sorta rumbles along in the beginning, and you’re going, ‘Oh God are they going to pull this off,'” Murray said, drawing some laughs. ‘No! Believe me, I feel like a stepfather to the whole thing. There is just no quit in these girls.”
Elsewhere, the original cast discussed some of the strangest Ghostbusters fan tattoos they’ve seen, with Ernie Hudson saying a mechanic at a car dealership had a full portrait of his face drawn between ankle and knee. Kimmel then brought up several video chat screens with fans ready to show-off their own Ghostbusters ink. Murray was so moved by the body art he revealed his own “tattoo” — a stunning portrait of one of the aforementioned Ghostbusters fanatics.