Yahoo Movies Ghostbusters star shares the movie prop that really scared her
"The door slams shut really hard and it’s close to my face. I actually felt scared. It’s hit me a few times.”
Watch: Mckenna Grace and Finn Wolfhard talk Ghostbusters gadgets
Geeky gadgets are just as much a part of Ghostbusters folklore as the spooks themselves. And Mckenna Grace, who stars in the newly-released Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, has a particular favourite – even if it’s given her some scary moments.
In the film, the Ghostbusters legendary Ecto-1 comes equipped with a gunner seat, which springs out of the side of the vehicle, allowing one of the gang to get a clear shot with their proton pack.
Grace, who plays Phoebe Spengler, wanted to spend more time in what would better be described as the hot seat. “I’m disappointed that they wouldn’t actually drive me around the streets with me sitting in it,” she explained to Yahoo Entertainment UK.
But getting the seat back inside Ecto 1 wasn’t as much fun. “The scariest part of being on that gunner seat is getting it back in the door. Whenever it comes back, the door slams shut really hard and it’s close to my face. I actually felt scared. It’s hit me a few times.”
Co-star Finn Wolfhard, who plays her brother Trevor, also remembers it well. “The sound of the door slamming will never get out of my brain. It’s an old metal door so it slams very hard.”
The gunner seat — adapted from the converted Cadillac ambulance’s rear seat — made its debut in the previous Ghostbusters movie, Afterlife, when audiences also met the Spengler family (Carrie Coon as Egon's daughter Callie plus Wolfhard and Grace) for the first time.
And, while the Stranger Things star doesn’t take his turn in the seat in Frozen Empire, he has his own scary moment – an encounter with the Cheeto-chomping Slimer. Just one of the multitude of ghosts returning for this instalment, he covers Wolfhard with the inevitable green goop.
The actor wishes it had tasted of lime, but instead “it was watery and minty. It wasn’t truly horrible. Sometimes, if you’re dealing with fake blood and you have to put it in your mouth it’s so much worse, because that stuff is made from corn syrup and it’s super sweet. This wasn’t sweet at all.”
After playing brother and sister for the second time, Grace and Wolfhard have worked out that there’s quite a few similarities between them and their characters. “Phoebe in the first film was just me, except a lot more deadpan,” explained Grace. “I love Phoebe. I think she and I are a very similar in a lot of ways. Phoebe and I would be tight!”
Frozen Empire sees the Spengler family back in New York and living in the original Ghostbusters’ fire station. It reunites them with the team from the first two movies, Venkman (Bill Murray), Winston (Ernie Hudson) and Stanz (Dan Aykroyd), when a powerful ghost is released from an ancient artefact and threatens to turn the entire planet to ice.
Mckenna Grace started her acting career at the age of five and since then has appeared in I, Tonya, Gifted and Malignant, as well as the two most recent Ghostbusters films. Earlier this month, it was announced she would star in and executive produce psychological thriller, Straight Lies, which goes into production in the summer. Best known for playing Mike Wheeler in Stranger Things, Finn Wolfhard will appear in next year’s final season and is currently working on SNL 1975, which is directed by Jason Reitman and written by Frozen Empire director, Gil Kenan.
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Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is in cinemas now. Watch a trailer below.
