The Big Picture

Collider’s Steve Weintraub interviews
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
stars Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon.
Rudd and Coon discuss reuniting with original
Ghostbusters
cast, practical effects, and Easter eggs on set for Gil Kenan’s sequel.
Rudd also reflects on
Wet Hot American Summer
kick-starting his comedy career and Coon discusses joining
The White Lotus
Season 3.

The Spengler family and Gary Grooberson, played by Paul Rudd, have taken over the iconic NYC firehouse in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. As the newly instated Ghostbusters, the team finds themselves struggling against decades worth of spirits busting at the seams. Ahead of the sequel’s theatrical release, Collider’s Steve Weintraub got to talk with the cast about reuniting with the OG cast members and working with practical effects on set.

In Gil Kenan’s (Ghostbusters: Afterlife) sequel, Carrie Coon (The Gilded Age), Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things), Mckenna Grace (The Handmaid’s Tale), and Rudd return to face down a frosty foe when an ancient artifact stirs up an ancient evil. This new adventure is full of nostalgia, bringing back the original cast members and, according to Rudd, hiding plenty of Easter eggs throughout. Frozen Empire also features Ghostbusters alums Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, and Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley) and Patton Oswalt (Ratatouille).

Check out the conversation with Rudd and Coon in the video above, or the transcript below, for more on what fans should look out for, what it was like working with practical effects, and donning the proton packs. Coon also talks about joining Season 3 of Mike White’s hit Max series, The White Lotus.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire When the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second ice age.Release Date March 22, 2024 Director Gil Kenan Runtime 125 Minutes Writers Gil Kenan , Jason Reitman , Ivan Reitman , Dan Aykroyd , Harold Ramis

‘Wet Hot American Summer’ Kicked Off Paul Rudd’s Career in Comedy

COLLIDER: You guys have both done so many cool things in your career. If someone has never seen anything you’ve done before, what is the first thing they should watch and why?

CARRIE COON: The Leftovers. I just think it’s a really special show. I don’t think there’s anything else like it, and I’m very proud of the work I did in that show.

PAUL RUDD: So good. Boy…

COON: It’s a long career.

RUDD: Maybe Wet Hot American Summer. Maybe? Because it was such an early thing and it kind of was a bit of a kick-start for the next 10 years of my career in… to even say with a straight face “career in comedy,” it makes me hate myself, so I’m not going to say it. But I guess that’s the one that popped into my mind.

Both things I strongly recommend.

Paul Rudd Geeks Out Over ‘Ghostbusters’
Image via Columbia Pictures

Jumping into why I get to talk to you guys, one of the cool things about this is there were practical effects, it’s not just all CGI. What was the coolest thing you actually saw on set practically?

COON: I got to shoot my proton pack through some candy glass. It’s not in the movie, but I got to do it, so it’s only for me. It was just an iconic proton pack moment. I had a great time.

RUDD: A lot of those props around the firehouse, they were in the original film. But I think being up close to an actual proton pack that you really get to look inside of it to really see how those wires are connected and how it lights up, and same thing with being inside Ecto-1 and seeing how it was built, it is so mind-bending because they’re so well crafted that they seem like they really should work. They seem like they really should do something. They’re these things that I’m so familiar with seeing, but to really get an up close look at them is pretty incredible.

I can’t imagine what it’s like to put on the Ghostbusters costume and put on the proton pack, but for me, I would really just be trying to sneak off set and run into Starbucks or any store and just play make believe, even though you’re doing that in the movie.

RUDD: [Laughs] Totally.

‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ Was Sensory Overload for the New Cast

How much did you want to leave set doing all that? It must be amazing.

COON: We would have loved to do that. We were actually shooting in Vinters Studios pretty far from anything else, so we’d have to run very far to get to a coffee shop.

RUDD: Exactly. We’d have to run out into a field.

COON: But that’s a great idea, and I wish I would have done it.

RUDD: What it’s like, as you would imagine, it’s surreal and thrilling and bizarre to be inserted into this imagery and these places, and wearing these things that we’ve been looking at our whole lives. But to do it standing next to the original cast, and they’re in the same suits and they’re wearing the same proton packs, to try and describe what that is like is futile because it’s actually sensory overload. It’s so bizarre and thrilling and emotional.

The crazy thing is you were paid to do it.

RUDD: Agreed.

Because you both grew up with Ghostbusters.

RUDD: There are interesting things even being in the firehouse. When we walked in, seeing on the lockers Venkman and Stantz, seeing the names, you’re like, “Oh my god, there they are.” It’s crazy.

Carrie Coon Was a Mike White Fan Long Before ‘The White Lotus’

Carrie, I’ve got to ask you an individual question. I’m a huge fan of The White Lotus. You’re obviously working on the new season. Is that the type of thing that you just sign on to based on Mike [White]’s previous seasons or do you want Mike telling you everything to make sure you’re familiar?

COON: I auditioned. I made a tape. Absolutely. I went after it. I still have to go after things, and I really wanted to work with Mike. I’ve admired Mike since Chuck & Buck. I think Enlightened is one of the best TV shows that’s ever been on TV. I think it’s such a fascinating examination of spirituality and an imperfect person trying to do better. I just think he’s one of the great writers, and so I auditioned for him.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is in theaters March 22.

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