{"id":76319,"date":"2016-07-11T16:25:32","date_gmt":"2016-07-11T16:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/0de2709a84.nxcli.net\/0-kjasnb\/2016\/07\/11\/exclusive-director-paul-feig-talks-ghostbusters\/"},"modified":"2018-12-18T02:58:14","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T02:58:14","slug":"exclusive-director-paul-feig-talks-ghostbusters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/exclusive-director-paul-feig-talks-ghostbusters\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive: Director Paul Feig Talks Ghostbusters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Exclusive: Director Paul Feig Talks Ghostbusters<\/strong>Posted By Damien D. Smith<\/p>\n

July 11, 2016<\/p>\n

\"Ghostbusters<\/a><\/p>\n

Thirty years after the original film took the world by storm, a new Ghostbusters<\/strong> film is hitting theaters this week with a new twist. Directed by Paul Feig\u00a0<\/strong>from a script he co-wrote with Katie Dippold<\/strong>, the main cast is lead by an all-female crew,\u00a0the funniest actors working today.<\/p>\n

Kristen Wiig<\/strong> plays Erin Gilbert, a particle physicist, academic firebrand, spectral warrior. Kate McKinnon<\/strong> is Jillian Holtzmann, a nuclear engineer, munitions expert, and proton wrangler. Melissa McCarthy<\/strong> is Abby Yates, a paranormal researcher, supernatural scientist, and entity trapper, and Leslie Jones<\/strong> is Patty Tolan, a ghost tracker, municipal historian, and metaphysical commando.<\/p>\n

For Feig, whose no stranger to having females in lead roles, having done Bridesmaids, The Heat and Spy, this film was different. He’s taking on a beloved cult classic and putting a new spin, which has caused some negative fanfare from the media without anyone seeing the film.<\/p>\n

\"Paul<\/a><\/p>\n

In speaking exclusively with Blackfilm.com, Feig talks his input on the film, from the writing, the casting and the media’s initial reaction to a reboot.<\/p>\n

How much fun was it directing this?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Paul Feig:<\/strong> It was a blast! First of all, to make a new Ghostbusters, how crazy is that? To work with these incredibly funny women, it’s my favorite thing in the world. There’s something about funny people in general, especially funny women. There’s a camaraderie and the fun that comes out of it that everyday you are just laughing.<\/p>\n

Just watching the film. you can see that they had a great time on set. You knew what the women could do, but were you surprised by what Chris Hemsworth brought to the table?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Ghostbusters<\/a><\/p>\n

PF:<\/strong> None of us were prepared for that. He’s a charming guy and I’ve seen him be funny in other movies. As I’m talking to him as I form words, I say to myself, “How is this possible?” It’s like the Gods opened up heaven and dropped him down. We wrote that role for what Katie (Dippold) and I figured would be for one of our comedy friends as a guy who cares about doing his job. Chris and I share the same agent and he had told me that Chris would be interested if there was anything for him in Ghostbusters. I’m like, “We’re going to get Thor to be the receptionist? Let’s do it.” But then he thought that the women are so funny and he doesn’t do improv and was nervous about being funny enough. I said, “Chris, don’t worry. We write tons of jokes. I will be there. Katie will be there and we will be feeding you jokes and everything.” He gets to the set and he’s like a pool hustler and he’s starts improvising with them and I’m like “What the hell?” The girls are looking at me and asking if I wrote him that joke. I said that he’s doing this on his own. The whole thing with the “my cat” was all him. The glasses. When he came on the set, there was such glare we were getting, I said “just take the glass out.” That started the whole thing with the no glass in the glasses. Unbelievable.<\/p>\n

\"Ghostbusters<\/a><\/p>\n

Definitely!<\/strong><\/p>\n

PF:<\/strong> The biggest thing I will take credit for is when I had lunch with Chris the first time and just talking to him and hearing his natural accent and hearing how comfortable he is, that was the one I said. I said, “Chris, I want you to play you with your accent.” That gives him the freedom to not think about what he’s doing.<\/p>\n

How familiar were you with Leslie Jones and her comedy?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Ghostbusters<\/a><\/p>\n

PF:<\/strong> This is the crazy thing. Leslie and I both started in stand-up on the mid-80s but we just never ran into each other. I then went into acting and behind the camera and she kept doing stand-up the whole time. I had never seen her. I was trying to figure out who will be my Ghostbusters and I knew I needed different energy and comedic takes on things. I was watching SNL, which I always watch, one night with my wife Laurie and suddenly this woman comes on the Weekend Update segment. “She’s not part of the cast. Who is that?” She was so funny and before she finished her routine, I said “That’s one of our Ghostbusters.” I called Alison Jones, who’s my casting director and asked “Can Leslie Jones act? Have you ever auditioned her?” She said, “Oh yeah, she’s great.” Then I called and set up a drinks meeting with Leslie and we just bonded over being stand-ups. I didn’t even auditioned her. I was like, “She’s in.” She was surprised.<\/p>\n

\"Ghostbusters<\/a><\/p>\n

Who’s going to say no to Ghostbusters? Ghostbusters is an institution.<\/strong><\/p>\n

PF:<\/strong> It really is. Everyone took it so seriously and really felt the gravitas of that. It didn’t play lightly to anyone. Everyone knew we had to work with high standards.<\/p>\n

Can you talk about integrating some of the formula from the original to the reboot?<\/strong><\/p>\n

PF:<\/strong> As soon as I decided to take it on, which I was nervous about at first, and then got settled on, knowing I could do this with funny women and I can reboot it, I knew I had to get Katie N to write this with me because Katie loves horror movies and ghosts and all that. We sat and asked ourselves, “If we weren’t writing this movie, what would we want to see?” Of course, you want to include the slim, the logo and music for fans of the original but play with it so it doesn’t appear corny.<\/p>\n

\"Ghostbusters<\/a><\/p>\n

Was having an all-female cast something you wanted to present for today’s society?<\/strong><\/p>\n

PF:<\/strong> With all my movies, I love working with women and putting them in these three dimensional lead roles but I did realize that they normally get to star in giant tentpoles. There’s always one or two but not as the four leads of it. There was that kind of gravitas to me but at the same time the reason the original movie worked was because those four guys were the funniest guys at that moment in time. Well, these are the four funniest people I know at this time. So, in a way, it made perfect sense to me. It was only when we started to get feedback and backlash from the internet is when we realized that we’re really not as advanced as much as we think we are. It’s not the people have a problem with the leads being all women. It’s just that they don’t like a classic movie being rebooted and I understand that.<\/p>\n

\"Ghostbusters<\/a><\/p>\n

It was seen as a boys club movie and some people may seem uncomfortable with the change.<\/strong><\/p>\n

PF:<\/strong> Again, who was I going to call? I’m going to call the four funniest people I know and it’s those four ladies.<\/p>\n

As a director with four comedic standouts, how much do you encourage your talent to improv?<\/strong><\/p>\n

PF:<\/strong> As much as possible. If someone finds a way to say a line a different way, I’m like, “That’s great.” Everybody’s mouth works differently and everyone’s brain works differently. When you have a script, you kill yourself with the wording, but I’ve learned over the years is that the way it’s written is generally the way I would say it; but it’s not the way these other funny people would say it to be the most effective.<\/p>\n

\"Ghostbusters<\/a><\/p>\n

With years in television directing, the service of the writers is that they have a joke where “he’s gotta say it like this” and I’m watching these talented comedic people struggle with the joke because it’s the not the way they would say it versus flipping a few words to make it gold and it’s ridiculous. You’re just cutting off this huge resource of creativity and comedy. You kill yourself to write a script and then get it in pre-production, building sets and you finally have a crew of people and cameras and there you are and “just say these lines” and leave, you’ve wasted everything. When you are there and working with the talent, something comes out where changes are made from the improvisation.<\/p>\n

Was this the heaviest special effects film you’ve worked with?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Ghostsbusters<\/a><\/p>\n

PF:<\/strong> By far. I dealt with it before in ‘Spy,’but with this film I didn’t want to allow myself to get swallowed up. The story and the characters can’t get swallowed up by all this VFX that we have. I wanted to make sure that my actors weren’t acting against nothing or pieces of tape on a wall. There were going to dealing with a ghost and I wanted that ghost to be played by an actor. I wanted the ghosts to be humanoid so I can cast them. All of the ghosts in the film are played by actors.<\/p>\n

Will there be a Ghostbusters 2?<\/strong><\/p>\n

PF:<\/strong> I want to see how this movie does and I really hope a new generation and new audience embrace this new take on Ghostbusters. If they do and make it successful, then there’s no reason this franchise and these four amazing people can’t continue to bust ghosts.<\/p>\n