Paul Feig put together a top-notch cast of leading ladies for his upcoming Ghostbusters reboot, including Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy. But now, while the high-profile reboot rolls cameras in Boston, it’s been revealed that Feig had another A-list actress in mind at one point: Easy A breakout Emma Stone.
It makes a ton of sense that Sony, which worked with Stone on the Amazing Spider-Man series and saw her become one of that superhero franchise’s most acclaimed elements, would want her for the Ghostbusters remake. When you add in that original Ghostbuster Bill Murray (who starred opposite Stone in Zombieland way back in the early stages of her career) personally pushed for the actress to have a role, it seemed like a done deal. However, Stone recently went on record to say that there’s one big reason she’s not in Ghostbusters – and that’s that she turned it down.
Speaking with The Wall Street Journal, Stone explained her rationale for telling Sony to look elsewhere:
“The script was really funny. It just didn’t feel like the right time for me. A franchise is a big commitment — it’s a whole thing. I think maybe I need a minute before I dive back into that water.”
That makes a lot of sense, given that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was in her immediate rear view at the time. Stone and co-lead Andrew Garfield were terrific in the superhero sequel despite being stranded with a weak script, and watching the pic fail to launch a Spidey cinematic universe, as the studio had planned, must have disappointed the actress immensely. She invested a great deal of time and energy both shooting and promoting Spider-Man, and so it’s no surprise she wouldn’t want to commit to something similar for Ghostbusters.
Instead, after appearing on Broadway in Cabaret, Stone will take on a role in Whiplash director Damien Chazelle’s Hollywood musical La La Land with her Crazy, Stupid, Love. co-star Ryan Gosling. We can’t argue with that being on Stone’s schedule – and with a cast that includes Wiig, McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones and Chris Hemsworth, we’re betting Ghostbusters will be able to survive without her.
