Ghostbusters: Afterlife Star Paul Rudd Pays Tribute to Harold Ramis

Prolific performer and filmmaker Harold Ramis passed away in 2014, so when fans knew that Ghostbusters: Afterlife would feature members of the original films, we knew it wouldn’t be quite the same without Ramis’ Egon Spengler, and while the film finds ways to thematically pay tribute to the figure, star Paul Rudd recently opened up about his own connection to Ramis and what their brief time together meant to him. While Rudd didn’t get to spend much time with Ramis throughout his career, he noted that even his brief encounters with the figure left an impact on him. Ghostbusters: Afterlife hits theaters on November 19th.

“I was such a huge Harold Ramis fan. That’s a movie where, really, you watch it and go, ‘Every single person in it is brilliant.’ I felt that way and feel that way about everybody, including not just all of the Ghostbusters, but Rick Moranis and Sigourney Weaver, across the board,” Rudd detailed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. “It was interesting to, all of a sudden, know this movie my whole life then get to work on it with Jason Reitman, whose father directed the original.” 

He continued, “It did make me think about Harold Ramis. I knew him a little, yeah. Actually, he played [Seth Rogen’s] dad in Knocked Up and he was a director, I worked on a movie he directed just for a day or two, but he was such a lovely guy. And, as you know, you’re a comedy fan, I think any comedy enthusiast knows just what an important figure he is in the world of comedy.”

More than merely starring as Spengler, Ramis also wrote both Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II, with his comedic sensibilities being ingrained into the DNA of the franchise.

“Such a brilliant guy and Second City and an incredible writer, an amazing director, his body of work that he left behind … [He was] the sweetest person,” Rudd continued. “I got to go out to dinner with him and he was really forthcoming about his life and talking about different people he’s worked with and there was something special, just, I think, if you entered his orbit a little bit, you got sucked into it and thought, ‘Man, this guy’s incredible.’ So being around all of this now, it makes me miss him.”

Ghostbusters: Afterlife hits theaters on November 19th.

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