Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, and Dan Aykroyd haunt 30 Rock to talk Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Appearing on both The Tonight Show and Late Night, the actors talk heavy proton packs, SNL, and Harold Ramis
TV News Ghostbusters
It’s been nearly four decades since Bill Murray, Dan Akyroyd, and Ernie Hudson all first strapped on very heavy proton packs and ran some red lights around New York City. So it only makes sense that the now septuagenarian Ghostbusters: Afterlife actors (okay, Akyroyd’s only 69) combined their late-night press tour into one elevator ride. First stopping off on 6 to talk about the Ghostbusters sequel with Jimmy Fallon, Hudson, Aykroyd, and Murray then hopped up to the 8th floor to tell similar but amusing variations of their time both on the very belated sequel, and, for Murray and Akyroyd, their shared experience spent working in that very building on Saturday Night Live.
“I knew all the secret exits out of this place,” Murray told Meyers of his time dodging SNL producer Lorne Michaels and staff, while, over on The Tonight Show, Akyroyd recalled how he took then-SNL cast member Fallon on a tour of all the coolest forbidden spots on 30 Rockefeller Plaza, including crawling through a window onto the 11th floor roof garden. Murray, told that security had tightened up since the 70s, advised Fallon to go catch the view of St. Patrick’s Cathedral from the now-locked garden anyway, advising, “Yeah, you can still do everything,” and urging Fallon to just break the window. “They repair everything around here,” assured Murray.
The three actors’ dual appearance to promote their ghost-busting return may function as something of a spoiler for those who haven’t seen the Jason Reitman-directed Ghostbusters sequel. Especially since the ever-choosy (some might say cantankerous) Murray has long derided the idea of ever climbing into that damn jumpsuit and heavy proton pack again over the years. But, hey, the ghost’s out of the trap now, as Murray, Aykroyd, and Hudson were all effusive about how fun—if occasionally exhausting— it was to suit up once more.
“It was physically and emotionally painful,” said Murray to Meyers of the experience, while confiding to Fallon that Jason Reitman (son of original Ghostbusters director Ivan) was still as much of “a pain in the ass” as he’d been on his dad’s set back in the 80s. Comparing the ordeal of wearing the cumbersome gear to that of carrying either a vacuum cleaner or a small refrigerator on their backs (depending on which interview you watch), Murray told Fallon, “It’s not as heavy as the original was, but we’re weaker.”
Both appearances functioned to remind Ghostbusters fans of the trio’s traditional dynamic. Murray was the smart-ass, chiming in with some affectionate one-liners at the expense of pal Aykroyd’s perpetual pitchman’s patter. After Akyroyd recalled how his original Ghostbusters script was a far-flung trip through various alternate dimensions, Murray scoffed at the idea that Aykroyd and the late Harold Ramis’ eventual shooting script was somehow more grounded. “Something we all know,” joked Murray, “ghost-busting here in the Tri-state area.”
Meanwhile, Hudson, hired like his character Winston Zeddemore into an already-existing comedy/ghost-busting unit, remained pleasantly surprised at how beloved his role has become out of all those in his long and accomplished career. (Seriously, please do not just drop by Mr. Hudson’s house unannounced, people.) When Aykroyd and Murray regaled Meyers with the time that the two of them stole on-set police motorcycles and pulled over pedestrians in Central Park, the more sensible Hudson noted that he was content to watch his co-stars technically commit several felonies. (As Winston might have noted, “Hey, I just work with these guys.”)
On each show, Murray urged Akyroyd up to his feet to do some of his famous, lurching Blues Brothers dancing (perhaps trying to give his friend a heart attack on-air), while Aykroyd, as ever, touted his spiritualist great-grandfather’s influence on his Ghostbusters scripts. (In case you were wondering, yes, noted believer Dan Aykroyd consulted his ancestor’s “seance room” for inspiration.)
The three took time to extol the virtues of departed partner Ramis, with Akyroyd telling Meyers about Ramis’ “incredible intelligence, his great sense of humor, his frame of reference,” while Murray couldn’t help but puncture the sentiment about his lifelong (if occasionally estranged) friend by joking, “That’s enough, he’s passed away,” and making jibber-jab hand gestures. In the end, however, it seemed like the three actors were genuinely having fun, with Hudson explaining how he got emotional seeing the whole crew, including Sigourney Weaver, back together one final time. “Everyone that has seen it says that they cry at the movie,” deadpanned Murray, “so it should be an extremely successful comedy.”
Ghostbusters: Afterlife finally returns to theaters this Friday.
39 Comments
Harold Ramis may be dead, but it’s okay because Dan Aykroyd doubled in size to make up for him.
Harold Ramis got fat as shit…
I actually thought he looked thinner than he’s looked for the past ten years or so.
I remember being alarmed when he showed up in Driving Miss Daisy having put on about 30 pounds since I’d last seen him. He’s finally thinned out a bit, but he’ll never get back to his cocaine weight.
He actually does look like he lost a bit of weight. You wanna see FAT Dan Aykroyd, watch the movie Evolution. Although watching them walk on stage, He is not moving great. He kind of sorta plays it off as slowing down for the applauds a bit but it really looks like he wanted to take those steps slow and steady
He’s visibly catching his breath for a looong while after his dance break.
Oh man you almost got a star out of me because i thought you meant Ramis!
I don’t mean to be shitty. But seeing his cameo on a Steve Martin episode just shocked me a few years ago:
that…. that wiggle dance…
Vanessa bayerrrrrr
I just want to know which member of Bill Murray’s family is being held hostage while he does promotional tour.
We all know how much he loves returning to Ghostbusters franchise, so something must be motivating him.
At least Ernie Hudson is getting a paycheck out of this.
Did they address why Bill and Harold wouldn’t talk to each other?
Man, Murray is still nursing that grudge against Ramis, isn’t he?
I thought he was just being funny/maybe was just uncomfortable about talking about a dead man so much. Did they have a noted grudge?
Following it up with a similarly dismissive comment about John Belushi being dead is the coup de grace. Bill Murray is an asshole, but goddamn he’s watchable.
Bill Murray is many things, but he is not sentimental.
No, they reconciled and Bill has more seriously talked about how much Harold meant to him in other interviews. Lighten up, Francis.
ngl I do want to see this movie.
FU Bill Murry your the reason we never got a proper Part 3. Why did you turn on Ramis ?
Each new marketing campaign for this movie has had the opposite intended effect, causing me to be less and less interested as more promotion happens.
How do you know that’s not the intended effect? Maybe Reitman hates you personally.
Its possible, the only people Reitman seem to want to please with this movie are basement dwelling MRA man-babies who think a irrelevant silly comedy from the 80s needs to be revered like a holy text.
Dude owes me 50 bucks!
In the end, however, it seemed like the three actors were genuinely having fun, with Hudson explaining how he got emotional seeing the whole crew, including Sigourney Weaver, back together …Since the last attempt to reboot the franchise.
Dan Aykroyd was in the movies Neighbors and Doctor Detroit, only the two greatest films of all-time.
Is Doctor Detroit worth a rewatch. I recall liking it when I was like 5 but I have a feeling that it has not aged well at all
If it helps, I watched it at 14, and I hated it.
But it’s got DEVO on the soundtrack. C’mon!
It’s a trash fire but worth skimming for sightings of a very attractive Fran Drescher early in her career.
Neither of which are as memorable as Nothing But Trouble.
Nothing But Trouble does benefit from the John Candy factor.
“memorable” is definitely an accurate adjective. unlike, say, “great” or “hilarious”, or “appealing in any way”.
An escaped vivisectionist???
I know its not really been a secret but the fact is maybe not reveal that all three are back in the movie would make people be actually surprised when they show up to see it. I realize that reviews are basically saying this is a turd of a movie and they need to bring in the “real fans” this first weekend before everyone realizes how bad it is. This reeks of a Rise of Skywalker level of “Shit we need to make the fans happy” u-turn that is just gonna end in a movie that tries to be for everyone but sucks so bad that we collectively all try to forget about it a year later
Its got 73% on Rotten Tomatoes. Helluva lot higher then 52% for RoS. I honestly have heard good things about it so far.
I have heard only negative things honestly. I am still gonna watch it and give it a fair shake but I don’t have a good feeling about it.
I’ve mostly heard negative, but I don’t know someone who isn’t a critic who’s seen it. I suspect it’ll be one of those movies that sends critics into thinkpiece hell, while most folks who just want a couple of hours to escape from reality will enjoy it.
This is anti ghost propaganda. GHOST LIVES MATTER!
“two of them stole on-set police motorcycles and pulled over pedestrians in Central Park”Yes, because they’re privileged white men. Hudson didn’t say it but it’s obvious that he couldn’t have pulled a move like that as a black man without serious repercussions in this fucked up world.ANYONE who tries to even remotely deny this reality is a fucking moron, irrefutably so.