Melissa McCarthy and 'Ghostbusters' Cast Open Up About Gender Controversy

The new Ghostbusters cast sits down with EW for the upcoming cover story

Photo: Justin Stephens for EW

The ladies behind the new Ghostbusters reboot are getting candid about the gender controversy surrounding the movie.

Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon and Kristen Wiig are headlining the upcoming reboot, which received backlash online for featuring an all-female cast. The actresses addressed the issue head on during an exclusive roundtable interview with Entertainment Weekly as part of their cover story hitting stands Friday.

“You can’t get better than the original,” said Wiig, who plays a professor in the film. “But it’s a different movie, it’s a different cast, it’s many years later, and we’ve also done things that are different. It’s not just about it starring women.”

Jones agreed, saying, “When people started asking me about the gender stuff, I would say, ‘It’s not a man thing, it’s not a woman thing. It’s a Ghostbuster thing.”

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Meanwhile, McCarthy said she was not expecting the reaction. “I just thought, ‘Really? Are we still there?’ ” she explained. “It’s a movie. I never gave it another thought. You just have to go, ‘Well, I hope you get out a little more. The world is fun.’ I really think it’s the minority.”

But one of the Ghostbusters toughest critics, original cast member Bill Murray – who refused to make a third film for years – only agreed to give the reboot his blessing after he heard the names of the women involved.

Asked why he had shunned the project until now on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Murray answered, “It was only ’cause I knew these girls were funny.”