Finn Wolfhard says original Ghostbusters cast had nothing but respect for next generation

Last Updated on March 19, 2024

Who ya gonna call? Well, if you’re one of the next generation of Ghostbusters, you can probably ring up one of the OG crew, as it turns out they’ve been more than receptive to the younger cast of Frozen Empire. Finn Wolfhard and Dan Aykroyd living together? Mass hysteria!

As Wolfhard told The Hollywood Reporter in promotion for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (and some TV show called Stranger Things – the dude is busy!), the original cast has been welcoming to the new blood, saying, “We spent so many days together on set, and we hung out a few times outside of set as well. Dan [Aykroyd], Annie [Potts] and everyone are such open books, and you can ask them anything about their lives and their industry stories. You can ask Dan about SNL in 1975, and he just remembers it all off the top of his head. So it’s really surreal to be in a room with these people, but they make you feel equal, which is really nice. There’s no ego or anything. There’s mutual respect.”

But there are even more ties to SNL on the Frozen Empire set than just Dan Aykroyd for Finn Wolfhard, as he’ll be playing an NBC page in the upcoming SNL 1975. Added to this, SNL 1975 will be written by Frozen Empire co-writers Gil Kenan and Jason Reitman, with the project being directed by the latter. That cast has built up quickly, with Aykroyd being played by Dylan O’Brien, Gilda Radner by Ella Hunt, Jane Curtin by Kim Matula, John Belushi by Matt Wood, Chevy Chase by Cory Michael Smith, and Lorne Michaels by Gabriel LaBelle.

Sadly, the Frozen Empire team would never get the chance to speak with Harold Ramis (Egon Spengler) – who did have a touching “cameo” in 2021’s Afterlife – as he died in 2014. They, too, would miss out on stories on the set this time around from Ivan Reitman, who produced Afterlife but passed away in 2022.  His son, Jason, also stepped away from directing duties, to which Wolfhard said, “To direct something where he’d be thinking about him all the time, I am sure that it would have been really emotionally heavy. So I think it was really helpful for Jason to take a step back in more of a producer role.”

Regardless of who remains or gets namechecked (come on, Bill, we know you loved working with those kids!), it’s pretty cool to see the torch being humbly passed by the original cast of Ghostbusters, which is now celebrating its 40th anniversary. Frozen Empire comes out next Friday, March 22nd.

Which Finn Wolfhard project are you most looking forward to: Frozen Empire, SNL 1975 or the final season of Stranger Things?