Warning: SPOILERS for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.

Summary

Screen Rant

• Screen Rant interviewed Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire star Emily Alyn Lind.
• Lind discussed the importance she felt as a fan to carry on the legacy of Ghostbusters.
• Lind also touched on Melody's backstory and addressed internet fan theories.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is, in some ways, the most ambitious movie in the franchise yet. The sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife, directed by Gil Kenan and co-written by Kenan and Afterlife director Jason Reitman, brought together the series’ largest-ever cast and introduced new gadgets, powers, and ghosts to the universe. The film brings Mckenna Grace’s Phoebe Spengler and her family to New York City, where they must team up with the original Ghostbusters and some unexpected new allies.

One of the most unique additions to the new movie is the character of Phoebe’s ghost friend Melody, played by Emily Alyn Lind. Thanks to the relationship between Melody and Phoebe, audiences were introduced to Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’s ghost-walking ability, which made for one of the film’s most surprising scenes. The character changes the game for the franchise in several ways, even challenging the ghost/Ghostbuster relationship as a whole.

Screen Rant interviewed Emily Alyn Lind about her role as Melody in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. Lind discussed Melody’s unique relationship with Phoebe and what she’d like to do if given a chance to return to the franchise, and even responded to a Reddit theory about her character.

Emily Alyn Lind Really Didn’t Want To Ruin Ghostbusters

Screen Rant: Your character is not what we would expect from a ghost in a Ghostbusters movie. Were you worried at all about how that was going to be received by people?

Emily Alyn Lind: I didn't realize I should be worried about it until later, I think. I obviously wanted to do it justice. I knew that there had never been a ghost like this—a real human relationship ghost. I thought it was a great idea. To be honest, I think it's really cool. I agree, how it unfolded and adding that to this universe—I thought it really worked.

But my fear with doing a sequel to these brilliant movies that I loved when I was little, and as a fan specifically… [you] deeply, deeply care that what you do next after it does it justice and keeps its legacy.

It's like that for a reason. There’s an immense pressure there. I have so much empathy for the fans and [understand] how important it is to do justice for this thing that was so great. And it continued to be great, but we can't f*** it up. That would suck. That would suck if they're like, “Ghostbusters, and then Emily came in, and then from there it was over and she ruined it all. She had a very powerful performance. She ruined the franchise.”

Speaking of ruining it all, I saw that Gil Kenan said Phoebe, Mckenna Grace’s character, is going to be at the center of future films. After this relationship with a ghost, she’s got to be seeing ghosts differently. Did Melody ruin Phoebe’s ability to be a good Ghostbuster?

Emily Alyn Lind: I wonder. I kind of that thought too, but it’s like the E.T. universe. I love these characters because even with Slimer or something, there’s like a human-ghost connection. [It’s] like E.T. or these extraterrestrial things, where it’s like we love our monsters. There’s a heart to our monsters.

I think Phoebe walks a fine line, and she does it so great. She is emotional. She’s zapping the ghost, but I never feel bad for the ghosts. You can tell she’s hesitant to not zap me. I like that about her character, and I like that about these movies.

Emily Alyn Lind Responds To Reddit Fan Theories & Talks Melody’s Backstory

I was scrolling through Reddit and there were so many theories about Melody’s life and where she lived. Do you know more about her backstory than we do?

Emily Alyn Lind: I have an idea in my head. I've made up stories about this and talked with Gil about it a bit. He has all these wonderful thoughts on that as well. I think it's kind of up to viewers to decide that themselves.

I know that she's a weirdo. That was the most important thing for me. Because the scenes are scattered and there's so much going on in the movie, we don't have much time to get to know Melody, so I thought the best thing to do was make her a bit wacky. You see this character and you're kind of like, “I might not know literally what happened, but I know that this is happening for a reason. She probably contains multitudes, and this could be a crazy story in and of itself.” But no, we're not going to find out for real.

It's kind of up to the viewer's imagination, which I think is really cool. But I think Melody had a crazy past and is an old soul, literally and figuratively, and had always been. And I think that I'm going to go on Reddit after this conversation and read all of them, so thanks for telling me that.

There's a crazy one about her being in the building where Garraka was imprisoned, and that’s why it was cold, and that's why she lit the match.

Emily Alyn Lind: I love that. Amazing. Yeah, that’s what I think too. That was me. Bigdaddy64? Oh, that was my theory on Reddit.

On What Could Have Been (And Could Be?) For Melody And Phoebe

Melody gets her ending at the finale of the movie, but in an alternate version where she sticks around and keeps building a relationship with Phoebe, what would that be like?

Emily Alyn Lind: I don't know if there's room for more characters in the franchise, but I think that would be amazing just because I want to keep doing Ghostbusters movies if I can. I had so much fun. I've thought about that, and I think that they have a lot left in a different time and different place.

I think Melody has some stuff to work on—some psychological stuff. She needs to go to therapy a little bit. She needs to go see her family again and tie up some loose ends. A hundred years or whatever is a long time to be away. I think that maybe she needs to figure that out a little bit and come back a healthier person. I think that they both have a lot to learn, but I think that they'd have such a fun story. I love it. I really do, and not just because I'm in it.

Those two characters, Melody and Phoebe, are such outcasts. They're so different, but [they’re] the same in the way that they're nerds, they're special, and they're wacky. They're outcasts. One of them is literally a ghost and everyone's scared of her, and the other one's a Ghostbuster and no one trusts her. They're just figuring it out together, and it's a beautiful teenage friendship, relationship, whatever. At the same time, it's so complicated. I think there's always room to see more of that, so I hope that we do.

About Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

In Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the Spengler family returns to where it all started – the iconic New York City firehouse – to team up with the original Ghostbusters, who’ve developed a top-secret research lab to take busting ghosts to the next level. But when the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an army of ghosts that casts a death chill upon the city, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second Ice Age.

Check out our other Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire interviews:

• Ernie Hudson
• Mckenna Grace

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is available now on digital platforms.

Source: Screen Rant Plus