Ghostbusters: Afterlife Star McKenna Grace Explains Why “It Was a Little Bit Scary To Try and Live Up to Egon Spengler”

Ghostbusters: Afterlife hit theaters earlier this month, and follows the daughter of Harold Ramis’ Egon Spengler, who is played by Carrie Coon. In the new film, Coon’s family is forced to move to a home in a small town that has a connection to the original Ghostbusters team. Coon’s children are played by Finn Wolfhard (Trevor) and McKenna Grace (Phoebe), and the latter is very much following in the footsteps of Egon. During a recent interview with Collider, Grace spoke about the pressure of trying to live up to Ramis’ iconic character. 

“The thing is, Phoebe’s not an imitation of Egon,” Grace explained. “As much as she’s a Spengler – and by looking at her you can tell, she’s very reminiscent of the old Ghostbusters. She has the Egon feel down to the way that she talks and the way that her hair looks, her glasses. She seems like him, but at the same time, she’s still her own character. It was a little bit scary to try and live up to Egon Spengler, but then I realized I don’t have to because we’re creating a different character. She might be related in looks and blood, but we wanted to be able to create something that’s newer but it still has that authentic old Ghostbusters feel that gives you that kind of nostalgia.”

Ghostbusters: Afterlife sees the return of many original Ghostbusters actors as well as some franchise newcomers. One fan-favorite actor to appear in the new movie is Paul Rudd, who also recently paid tribute to Ramis. 

“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.”

Ghostbusters: Afterlife is now playing in theaters.