Karen Volpe can’t cook toast without burning it but she is the inventor of Ghostbustersgoggles. She discovered she is creative by gluing salt and pepper shakers onto her head; that’s pure science right there. Karen doesn’t spend mountains of money on singing lessons or rehearsing her pitch but she does credit her powerful singing instrument down to partaking in one shot of Dan Aykroyd’s Crystal Head Vodkawhenever she performs LIVE at the Whisky A Go Go.
Exhibit A: Proof that Karen sings and dances under the influence of ‘Crystal Head Vodka’.
I was lucky enough to attend the Ghostbusters Fan Fest earlier this June celebrating the 35th Anniversary of the original movie and it was AMAZING! What I discovered was that Jason Reitman is going to be directing the new Ghostbusters and there he was with his dad Ivan Reitman.
Jason and Ivan were showing never before seen footage of scenes that were not used in the original Ghostbusters movie (which were awesome) and Ivan was telling stories of behind the scenes stuff.
At one point, Ivan reminisced that they were at the top of their game, they were in their 30’s, were cocky and having the time of their life making the movie…and then Ivan started to cry. Jason reached over and hugged his dad and Jason started to cry. I started to cry. We ALL started to cry. There was dead silence until the audience started to chant… “Ivan… Ivan… Ivan”, and then Jason pulled back from his dad and looked directly at him and said something to the effect of, “You are the best storyteller I know. I am making this movie for the fans, but I am really making this movie for you. I want you to be proud of my Ghostbusters movie.”
That is when I knew the new Ghostbusters movie was going to be GREAT and I had to be a part of it.
Karen in her 1st ever professional acting gig at a local amusement park right out of high school.
Ghostbusters 1984
My favorite movie of all time will always be the original 1984 Ghostbusters. Not only is it a fantastic movie that starred some of my favorite people on the planet, but it created a whole new genre of comedy/scary movie and the writing in it is FANTASTIC!!! Ivan Reitman’s directing taught me about comedic timing and truth in comedy. That comedy coming from a real place, even in the most ridiculous of circumstances, can change people, can help people, can give people a little bit of escape even in the most terrible of times…just like it did for me. Ghostbusters made me the person I am today.
My dad had a heart attack and needed surgery and so he had a significant stay in hospital. Ghostbusters was playing in movie theaters at the time and I went to see it every day my dad was in hospital. I saw it ten times and it just helped me forget about what was happening. (Karen’s dad recovered and was released but he died later).
I love my dad, he was the best! He was a great singer and played the guitar and was really funny. At gigs, he would change the lyrics to the songs as he sung them, to interact with the people in the room. He was an entertainer. He would include everyone in the joke and always try to make people laugh. His humor wasn’t mean, it was silly and fun. He was always there for me and supported me 100% in all of my acting and singing dreams.
Tell me about…..
I met Bill Murray once at a book signing in Chicago for Cinderella Story and told him the story about my dad and thanked him for helping me through such a difficult time. He was very sweet and listened and asked how my dad was doing. I was happy to tell him much better.
Bill Murray
Bill Murray was my second favorite person, to my dad, growing up. I just love him!!! Just thinking about him makes me happy. I first fell in love with him when he was giving noogies to Gilda Radner as a nerd. I have followed his career ever since and of course love his movie and am fascinated by his lifestyle. He is a true improviser in every sense of the word. He lives in the moment, in the now and is always saying “yes, and”.
Karen Volpe and Ernie Hudson
Ernie Hudson and I after I told him the story about my dad and how much Ghostbusters meant to me. I thanked him for helping me through one of the hardest times of my life. If you look closely you will see the tears in both of our eyes. What a wonderful man and a fantastic actor. His scene in Ghostbusters in the car talking about end times is my favorite scene in the movie. Maybe it was because it talked about the afterlife and the first time I heard those words my father was fighting for his life.
Dan Aykroyd and Karen Volpe
Dan is also one of my favorite people. I first fell in love with him on SNL. I was just a little girl so I would sneak out to the TV room to watch SNL while my brothers were watching it. I have always been inspired by The Blues Brothers and Dan’s love of music. He is such a fantastic writer and am so thankful that he created this world of Ghostbusters where everyday people can be hero’s with their friends:)
Ray Parker Jr
Ray Parker Jr – I always knew about Ray Parker Jr. and loved his song Ghostbusters, but I really fell in love with him when he came over to my house to record an interview for my show The Movie Guys. Before the recording we were hanging out in my living room and he was playing my guitar (he is an amazing guitarist, BTW) and we started talking about growing up and our dad’s. I told him about my dad and why Ghostbusters means so much to me. We bonded instantly. His dad was so proud of him and Ray ended up buying his dad a house:)
Paul Feig and Karen Volpe
Paul Feig and I after a viewing of the movie he produced Snatched here in LA. Through tears I thanked Paul for Ghostbusters 2016 and for letting women be Ghostbusters. He hugged me and kissed me on the forehead. On the way home I tweeted the photo and here is how he responded:
When I hear the name Paul Feig, all I can say is THANK YOU for making it possible for ANYBODY to be a Ghostbuster and thank you for supporting and loving funny women!!! Paul Feig is THE BEST!!! He is funny, talented, kind, thoughtful and fearless. He let me see that a Ghostbuster can look like me, can be a funny woman, can be anyone who has a dream. He’s probably the reason why my dream to become a Ghostbuster is finally going to come true.
I met William one day at The Farmer’s Market in Pasadena. We hit it off immediately and I invited him to be interviewed on my show. We have been friends ever since. I saw him at the Ghostbusters Fan Fest a week ago.
THE AUDITION
Q: Do you have any audition ideas you think you’ll try?
A: I will do whatever they ask me to do and do it with all the honesty and humor I can muster.
Q:Song?
A: If they want me to sing, that would only be great! I’ll sing anything:)
Q: Joke?
A: I got one.
Q: What role in the film would you like?
A: I have really been thinking about what kind of role I would like to play in the movie and I keep coming back to the Con Ed guy from the original film. For some reason I LOVED that guy. It was a small supporting role, but he made it real. He gave us, the audience, the feeling that if we were in this weird universe of ghosts taking over the city, we might feel the same way he did. He was there to do his job, had an open mind about the whole thing, but knew enough to run like hell when he saw Venkman and Spangler heading for the exit.
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