It’s a little difficult to picture John Candy as Louis Tully in Ghostbusters, isn’t it? It’s not that he couldn’t have played the role, as according to the writers at MovieWeb he was the first one to be given the opportunity, but he just couldn’t get a handle on it apparently. It sounds as though Candy wanted to put a German accent on and even have several German shepherds with him for the part, and Ivan Reitman just couldn’t see it happening that way. Maybe Candy was having a German phase at the time, but we’ll never know since Candy passed away decades ago. One can’t say that he didn’t have success after turning down Ghostbusters however since he went on to make several great and even legendary movies that are still remembered and loved today, such as Uncle Buck, The Great Outdoors, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, and many more. It does feel as though Rick Moranis was the right person for the role since Candy was a bit imposing when he felt the need, especially considering that he was a much bigger guy than Moranis is. With Rick in the role it was a lot funnier since Sigourney Weaver towered over him and made the effect even more comical when it came time for the Keymaster and Gatekeeper to meet. This scene might not have felt quite the same with Candy in the role of Louis.
A lot of us were likely growing up when Candy really hit his stride, and some of his movies were big enough that losing a role in Ghostbusters wasn’t a big deal. In fact it does sound as though Rick Moranis was thankful to Candy for giving it up, as he took the part and rocked it so well that people to this day still recall the whiny voice of Louis as he kept getting locked out of his apartment and eventually had to run from a devil dog through the streets of New York. Candy took a very different route with his career and started off taking on roles that were more comedic and less dramatic, though he did dabble in drama more than once during his time and was quite good at it really. He managed to blend in a great deal of realism and very heartfelt emotion in his movies since according to a lot of people this was just the kind of person he was. Watching him perform was a joy for a lot of us no doubt since he was one of the funniest men on the planet at one time and he managed to work with a large number of individuals that were well within his class and in some cases a little above him when it came to the level of fame they enjoyed. For Candy though it felt as though the joy of acting was simply the reason he did it, but when it came to Ghostbusters he was a bit stymied as to how to approach it in Reitman’s opinion.
It doesn’t sound like there were any hard feelings thankfully since it simply wasn’t something that Candy could see himself doing, and so he passed it on. Among the many comedians that were working during the 80s, Candy was one of the absolute best, and while he worked with a great many of his peers he was definitely a man that could stand alone just as well as acting with another, since he had a personality that was larger than life and managed to allow him to take over a movie if he so wished. Rick Moranis on the other hand has for a long time been the kind of guy that puts in a great performance and is beyond funny when he needs to be, but is still more or less the guy that gets looked over at times. This isn’t to say that he’s a nobody or not talented, not even close. He’s simply a different individual than Candy, obviously, as he’s not quite as boisterous and has usually been a much less obtrusive character anytime he’s on screen. That was a big reason why he was the perfect actor to play Louis, since he became someone you might talk to in order to be polite, but would want to get away from once he started talking about taxes and inconsequential matters.
He was perfect enough however to come back in the second movie and be directly tied to the Ghostbusters as their tax accountant, and he even had the chance to suit up and try to help the guys in the end. Sadly Rick Moranis won’t be coming back for Ghostbusters: Afterlife, but Louis Tully is going to be remembered for a long while no doubt and what’s even more amusing is that we get to keep thanking John Candy, with all due respect of course.
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