Even though on the surface, you’d assume that the protagonists in ‘Ghostbusters’ (Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon) would spend all their time facing off against… well ghosts. But there are other supernatural menaces out there and it seems like, in a fashion similar to the original film, the ghosts are just frightening ghouls flying around scaring people, while waiting to get sucked into a proton pack. But a more powerful menace will be lurking in the shadows of New York City and his name is Rowan Elgin.
As his part is described:
“Elgin is a troll who spends his days antagonizing a call-in radio advice doctor as well as working on a secret machine. That machine is placed beneath the Chrysler Building to tear open a hole in reality and begin an invasion. There are ghost T-Rexes, a Times Square magically returned to the porno days and eventually a giant horned demon.”
Taking on this role is a relative newcomer, Neil Casey, who appears in the webseries ‘Other Space.’ He is also a writer for ‘Saturday Night Live’ and considering that most of the principle cast are either current or former cast members of that ensemble sketch comedy series, it should be no mystery how Casey won the role in the high-profile reboot.
I’m not sure if the description of Elgin as a “troll” is meant in a literal “billy goat-harrassing, jewel-belly, rainbow Einstein hair” way or in a more figurative “internet blowhard” sense. The harassing phone calls point to the latter, but dwelling beneath the Chrysler Building would seemingly point to the former. At any rate, the part was alleged to have been written for Peter Dinklage. No word on why he passed, but I dunno, maybe asking a little person– an Emmy and Golden Globe Award winning little person– to play a freakin’ subterranean troll might have been a tad insulting.
My only remaining question at this point is, could this “giant horned demon” be named Zuul by any chance?
What do you think? Is casting a relative unknown a risk with such a high profile movie? Should they have gone with someone more recognizable? Or are you familiar with Casey’s work? Is he about to break big with this film? Comment below!
Source: Deadline