In an interview with Collider, Mckenna Grace was asked about how she went about making Phoebe her own character, while clearly also being influenced by Egon Spengler, the character the late Harold Ramis played in the first two “Ghostbusters” films.
Grace responded that she was worried about having Phoebe live up to Egon, given how prominent he is to the franchise. This was enhanced by the fact that Phoebe’s hair and glasses were quite reminiscent of Egon, an understandable resemblance given that they were both from the Spengler family.
However, Grace added that reminding herself Phoebe was her own person, and not just a new version of Egon, helped ease her concern. “It was a little bit scary to try and live up to Egon Spengler, but then I realized I don’t have to because we’re creating a different character,” she explained. “She might be related in looks and blood, but we wanted to be able to create something that’s newer but it still has that authentic old Ghostbusters feel that gives you that kind of nostalgia.”
Grace concluded that the point was to strike a balance between Phoebe bringing something new to the “Ghostbusters” franchise and still offering enough nostalgic vibes from the first two films in the series.
