Paul Rudd thinks he’d make a rubbish real-life Ghostbuster

We sat down with Paul Rudd, the star of Ghostbuster: Frozen Empire, to chat about his new movie, what it’s really like to drive the Ecto-1, and the future of Ant-Man.

Paul Rudd is arguably one of the coolest actors working in Hollywood, but what if we told you his new movie, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, saw him face off against someone even cooler?

Set just a few years after the events of Afterlife, Frozen Empire sees the Ghostbusters, new and old, reunite to tackle the terrifying new threat, Garraka — an ice demon with his sights set on world domination (we told you he was cool). A charming blend of laughs and thrills, this comedy-horror movie is sure to delight Ghostbusters fans the world over (Read our full Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire review here).

Of course, a movie is only ever as good as its leading man, and Paul Rudd is quite the leading man. Rudd made his name starring in classics like Anchorman, Clueless, and The 40-Year-Old Virgin (although we’ll always remember him from the rom-com Forgetting Sarah Marshall) before Ant-Man and the MCU made him a household name. Anyway, here’s our full interview with Rudd about making Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.

What made you want to come back for another Ghostbusters movie?

Paul Rudd: Well, I mean, it was this idea of getting to work in this world in New York, put on the suit, drive the Ecto-1, and do it all alongside the original Ghostbusters. How can you not get so excited about the idea of that?

Be completely honest with me, when you first put on the flight suit, were you like, “I’m never taking this thing off”?

PR: Well, it is pretty exciting. I mean, before we ever shoot anything, you have to do these fittings to figure out what you are wearing in the movie. So the very first fitting that I had, that’s when there was this test flight suit. And so the wardrobe person gave me the suit and put it on was just a rough version but I’m wearing a suit,and it was very exciting. Then, when I showed up on the first day of work, the authentic suit was hanging up, and I had to change into it. I was like a 10 years old [laughs].

Sony Pictures

What was cooler, driving the Ecto-1 or putting the proton pack on for the first time?

PR: I think driving the Ecto-1. Yep. You know, it’s a weird sensation, when driving it, I had to turn it on and put it in gear and actually drive it, and you think not many people have gotten to do this.

If ghosts were real, do you think you’d make a good Ghostbuster?

PR: I don’t think I would. I don’t think that I would want to mess with any of that stuff. Yeah, I’d avoid the supernatural at all costs.

Is that just a natural fear of ghosts?

No, I mean I think that there’s a curiosity. There was a moment in time when I was really trying to find an answer to this kind of thing. I would look and read up on stuff and kind of spend some time with people who lived half in the astral plane and half on terra firma.

Then I decided, oh, I don’t want to live my life like this. I’m going to just sit and deal with actual living people who seem to be much scarier than ghosts anyway.

Sony Pictures

Would you like to make another Ghostbusters movie?

PR: You know, I never project into the future, we’ll see how this thing does. Who even knows if they’ll want to do another one? It was a thrill to do and really, really fun. And I love the entire cast. So if this is the kind of thing that we’re to continue, and there was a great script and a fun story, and even if there wasn’t… [laughs]

You just want to wear the suit again!

PR: [Laughs] I’m not ready to give up the Ecto one just yet! I like driving that thing, and it would be sad to think I’d never get to put on a proton pack again. But if I don’t, and can’t, I got to do it once, and that’s pretty cool.

Marvel Studios

Speaking of another cool suit, Ant-Man. Do you know when we might see the return of Scott Lang?

PR: I have no idea.

No idea?

PR: You know that’s always in [Marvel’s] camp. We’ll see if they have ideas, and if that were to come about, then I guess we’ll find out, but I don’t really know.

Would you like to shrink again?

PR: I always just would like to continue working. My goals aren’t not so astronomical, just be a working actor. So any job we get it never changes, we’re just excited, and we can’t believe someone would want us.

You can see Paul Rudd in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire which hits theaters on March 22.

Need to know more about the boys in grey? Check out our article breaking down exactly how many Ghostbusters movies there are and we’ve explained how you can watch Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.

Looking for more? We’ve got a list of the best movies coming to streaming this month and if you can’t get enough of ’80s remakes, then you need to read out guide on the Beetlejuice 2 release date and our article explaining everything we know about Top Gun 3.