Why Ghostbusters: Afterlife’s Carrie Coon Was Initially Hesitant To Join The Film

Carrie Coon in Ghostbusters Afterlife

There are a lot of frustrated movie fans right now because whatever franchise happens to be your favorite, there's something that you're missing out on. The MCU and Fast & Furious franchises are both on hold, but if you're a serious Ghostbusters fan then you've been waiting an awfully long time for a new entry in that series and now you have to wait a bit longer. A lot of people are excited to see a Ghostbusters film in the classic franchise, but actress Carrie Coon almost skipped out on being in the movie.

Carrie Coon will play the role of Callie, the mother to the characters played by Finn Wolfhard and Mckenna Grace, all part of the family of original Ghostbuster Egon Spengler. Speaking recently with Collider, Coon explained that she was afraid that taking the role of Callie might typecast her as a "mom," however, it turns out that Callie is much more than that in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and so Coon was happy to take the role. The actress explains...

Yeah, that was certainly one of the things I was afraid of when I first was approached about it. I think of Dee Wallace in ET who is a wonderful actress who then sort of became – well, she actually went on, had a really interesting life, but, you know, she became sort of the franchise mom. And I thought about that, but Jason is smarter than that. Jason is the next generation, and he wrote a lot of fun for all of us, and it was one of the reasons I said yes to it. You know, she actually has a personality, a sense of humor and she does get in on the action, and that was really fun for me! I mean, I’m a Ghostbuster basically, which is insane! I grew up with that movie!

Carrie Coon has had a career playing a wide variety of characters in all sorts of movies and television series. She's been in Fargo and Avengers: Infinity War, and The Leftovers, and so it's not too shocking that Coon would at least be concerned about the idea of typecasting. Coon mentions Dee Wallace of E.T. as somebody who saw a series of roles playing movie moms following that film, and if Ghostbusters: Afterlife becomes that sort of hit, something like that could certainly have happened.

The difference here, according to Carrie Coon, is that Callie is more than a mom. She isn't just a character there to support the younger actors but a real part of the movie herself. It sounds like she'll actually find herself with a proton pack strapped to her back before the end of the film, and she'll get to be a Ghostbuster along with the kids. That's the sort of thing that's going to get any fan excited, and Coon makes it clear that she's just as much a Ghostbusters fan as anybody.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife is set for release March 5, 2021.

Dirk Libbey
Content Producer/Theme Park Beat

CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis.  Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.