Why John Candy turned down ‘Ghostbusters’
Classic supernatural comedy Ghostbusters packs an array of heavyweight comic talent into its ensemble, but had the original choices for two major roles agreed to star in the project, it would have carried even more icons.
Eddie Murphy was the first choice to play Winston Zeddemore, but as well as being offered Ivan Reitman’s blockbuster at the same time as Beverly Hills Cop, he thought the concept of paranormal investigators chasing ghosts around New York City “sounds like a crock”. Of course, it wasn’t, but Murphy didn’t regret his decision when his debut as Axel Foley became one of the year’s biggest hits.
Rick Moranis’ signature style of awkwardly endearing nervousness made him the perfect foil for the neurotic Louis Tully, but he wasn’t who the production initially wanted, either. Instead, Reitman and Dan Aykroyd were pushing hard for John Candy, who couldn’t seem to wrap his head around the material despite the part being written specifically for him in the initial draft of the screenplay.
Reitman shared the story of Candy’s bemusement, but not even their very recent collaboration on Stripes could convince the comedian that Ghostbusters was worth his time. “The original screenplay, we wrote it for John Candy. I remember sending it to Candy because I had just worked with him on Stripes,” he said. “John didn’t get it. He kept saying, ‘Hey, well, maybe can I do him with a German accent?’ And I was a little hesitant right away. I said, ‘That’s kind of an odd thing. It’s a very American, New York-based movie.'”
The filmmaker explained that Candy was merely “looking for a handle” on the character, but after a “very uncomfortable conversation” where they both stated their respective cases, “it was clear that he was not going to do it”. Before the day had even ended, though, a replacement had been secured.
“I literally called Rick Moranis the same day and sent him the script the same day that Candy had turned it down,” Reitman continued. “Rick called me like two hours after he got it, and he said, ‘Please thank Candy for turning this down. This is amazing. I know what to do with this.'”
According to the director, Candy didn’t just want to play Tully as being German, but he also wanted him to have “a bunch of German shepherd dogs” for some reason. That wasn’t who the character was on the page, and it most definitely wasn’t who he turned out to be in Ghostbusters in the hands of Moranis, who seized on Candy’s hesitancy to give one of his career’s most memorable performances.
Never one to be a bad sport, Candy did at least appear alongside his buddies in Ray Parker Jr’s accompanying music video, so he did sort of contribute to the Ghostbusters mythos on-screen.
