‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ Star On Ghost Girl Melody’s Complex Friendship With Phoebe

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire star Emily Alyn Lind — who plays the ghost girl Melody in the film — is thrilled that she can finally discuss the complexities of the spirit’s friendship with Phoebe Spengler (Mckenna Grace).

Since Melody was a mystery character that the production didn’t want to reveal before the release of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire in March, Lind didn’t participate in the film’s initial interview rounds. But now that word of her friendly human spirit — a first for the Ghostbusters franchise — has materialized, Lind is more than happy to share her thoughts about it.

In Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the Spengler family and Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd) relocate from Oklahoma to New York City to take up the mantle of the Ghostbusters crew that was formed 40 years before. But since Phoebe is only 15 and is a liability to the city, she is forced to sit out all of the Ghostbusters’ quests to capture spirits.

Left saddened by the development, Phoebe visits a nearby park where she encounters Melody, a teen ghost who tragically lost her life in a fire. Instead of busting the ghost, though, Phoebe forms a unique bond with Melody. As such, audiences have been left guessing what the nature of their relationship really is, calling it everything from a friendship to Phoebe’s crush.

In a recent Zoom interview, Lind told me that since Phoebe is alive and Melody is dead, she sees it more as a spiritual connection than anything.

“It really is a soul connection. That’s all they have, really. They really don’t have the physical bond that most people do,” Lind observed. “I can understand the want or need for that with anyone that you like or love. I think personally that it’s another dimensional playing field up there. The dating world in different dimensional playing fields or the friendships in different dimensional playing fields — like a ghost and Ghostbuster — is a story that is old as time. It’s such an interesting dynamic.”

Lind Was Thrilled Over The Space Director Gil Kenan Gave Her To Fully Realize Melody

Directed by Gil Kenan, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire finds the new Ghostbusters team — along with the help of the original Ghostbusters crew — facing an apocalyptic threat with the emergence of Garraka, a malevolent spirit who has the power to create a new ice age.

However, since Kenan allowed for several subplots to develop that were tied into the main narrative — Melody, for example, is reluctantly under the power of Garraka — Emily Alyn Lind was able to bring some nuance into the ghost character and her relationship with Phoebe.

“The whole time that we were doing the movie, the main thing that Gil would say for a lot of things — which I really appreciated him for — was that there never was a question that needed a direct answer,” Lind said. “He’s the type of guy who wants you to find it yourself. At first, I didn’t understand that and then I really, really did. [Even though] we had a script, we had our lines to say, we had our characters’ names and we had our backstories, [our characters] were meeting in real time and he wanted to see how that unraveled, just like a friendship would and I think it did quite beautifully.”

Naturally, you can’t talk with a Ghostbusters star without asking if they believe in ghosts for real. After her experience playing one in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Lind — whose long list of credits includes ABC’s Revenge, The Babysitter and The Babysitter: Killer Queen for Netflix NFLX and the Max reboot of Gossip Girl — is thrilled to answer.

“Seeing Melody and loving Melody and understanding the feeling of what that must be like, I think about all the sad little ghosts out there that are just trying to get home or wherever that might be,” Lind said. “I’ve always had a connection to other dimensions. As a kid I would see ghosts — I think my mom said I used to see ghosts so that makes sense — but I believe in ghosts and I’m proud to say it.”

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is playing in theaters.