Annie Potts

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Ghostbusters Related[]

Annie Potts is best known for her role as Janine Melnitz in the Ghostbusters films. She is also known for her role as Mary Jo Jackson Shively on Designing Women and Bo Peep in the Toy Story series.

Trivia[]

When Annie Potts auditioned for the role of Janine Melnitz, she asked her Brazilian nanny to dress her for it because Potts thought her really whimsical style suited Janine.^[1]
Before she started filming, Annie Potts visited the set to watch them film at Fire House #23 in Los Angeles. Ivan Reitman noticed and her and put her in the scene. Potts quickly took the prescription glasses off one of the costume designers and it became Janine's for the rest of the shoot.^[2]^[3]
On January 20, 1984, scenes were filmed in the firehouse used in Los Angeles. Bill Murray missed his call by a couple hours. They started filming Annie Potts with a stand-in for Murray. By the time half of the scene was filmed, Murray arrived a little embarrassed he was so late so he started entertaining the crew. Potts wasn't as amused. He clearly didn't know what scene they were doing and was going to just improvise it. That was not feasible since half the scene was filmed. Murray started riffing, asking Potts what was wrong. William Atherton observed. Potts handled Murray and told him something to the effect of, "Enough, Murray. Enough." or "Nothing's wrong. I would just like you to stand on your f***ing mark and say your f***ing line! And then I'll be fine." Allegedly, the crew applauded her then filming started.^[4]^[5]
During a premiere for Ghostbusters at Westwood, Ernie Hudson and Annie Potts were not recognized as part of the cast and were removed from the red carpet by security.^[6]
Larry Dilg later became Annie Potts's son's English teacher. Her son ended up attending an Ivy League college and majored in English.^[7]
Vanessa The Desk Clerk was named after Annie Potts' character Vanessa in the movie "Corvette Summer" which is a favorite of Paul Feig.^[8]
On the Regular Cover of Ghostbusters 101 #1, the map credit references Annie Potts.

External Links[]

References[]

↑ Annie Potts (2019). Cleanin' Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters (2019) (Blu-Ray ts. 37:36-37:54). Bueno Productions. Annie Potts says: "I remember at the time I had a Brazilian nanny, who was really cute and she had a really whimsical way of putting herself together. And I said, "I've got this funny audition, and I'd like you to dress me for it." So my Brazilian nanny dressed me for it, and I went in and got the role."
↑ Annie Potts (2019). Cleanin' Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters, Deleted Scenes (2019) (Blu-Ray ts. 9:44-10:34). Bueno Productions. Annie Potts says: "They were filming it at the Firehouse that we'd taken over. I just went to watch and Ivan saw me, "Oh great, Annie's here. Just put her in the scene." And I was like, "No, I-I just came to watch. I don't have a costume or anything." And so the costumer pulled me into the wardrobe trailer and put a coat on me and, "I don't think...I really wanted to make the character here." And I went, "Give me your glasses." So she had great, big thick bottle lenses and I put-I was married to those glasses for the rest of the time. Which was tricky because they were actually prescription lenses and they were quite strong so I was cross eyed with them.."
↑ Josh Gad YouTube "Who Ya Gonna Zoom? | Reunited Apart GHOSTBUSTERS Edition" 14:20-14:46 6/15/2020 Annie Potts says: "I hadn't started filming yet and I wend down. They were shooting at the fire house. I just went to watch and Ivan saw that I was on set and he went, "Great, you're here. Let's just put you in the scene," and I went, "I-I'm not even... this isn't even my costume or anything." And I literally took the glasses off the costumer who had like coke bottle glasses and put them on and then I was stuck with those glasses. I was like blind for the rest of the shoot."'
↑ William Atherton (2009). Ghostbusters- Slimer Mode (2009) (Blu-Ray ts. 21:48-22:03). Columbia TriStar Home Video. William Atherton says: "And, you know, Murray would tease Annie. And so she just had a way of cutting through. He'd be riffing something before a scene and you would hear Annie go, "Enough, Murray. Enough." She would start to do-- It was great."
↑ Annie Potts (2019). Cleanin' Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters, Deleted Scenes (2019) (Blu-Ray ts. 1:09:37-1:10:37). Bueno Productions. Annie Potts says: "I shot a couple of days before I did my first scene with Bill. I was like, 'Isn't Bill supposed to be here? What time is Bill's call?' Bill missed his call by some hours so much so that we had to start shooting that sequence with a stand-in. Then he came in and he clearly didn't know what the scene was. He hadn't looked at it. Bill was very willing to just improvise that scene. You can't now improvise the scene because we shot half of it so you kind of have to do the lines. He was a little embarrassed about having been that late so he was amusing everybody but not me so much. He was like, 'What's wrong? What's wrong, Annie? C'mon.' I said, 'Nothing's wrong. I would just like you to stand on your f***ing mark and say your f***ing line! And then I'll be fine.' And as I recall, the crew applauded."
↑ Annie Potts (2019). Cleanin' Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters, Deleted Scenes (2019) (Blu-Ray ts. 20:02-20:46). Bueno Productions. Annie Potts says: "When it premiered in Westwood, I got out on the red carpet and some people in official looking jackets came up and got me under both elbows and said, "Please step very quickly to the left so the celebrities can arrive." And I--they shuttled me into a little tiny room and there was Ernie standing there and he went, "Did they just do the same thing to you they did to me?" And I went, "Did they tell you to get out of the way so the stars could arrive?" And he said, "Yeah." Well, here we are."
↑ Annie Potts (2019). Cleanin' Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters (2019) (Blu-Ray ts. 2:03:17-2:03:26). Bueno Productions. Annie Potts says: "The guy in the hard hat ended up being my son's English teacher, and my son ended up getting into an ivy league school and majoring in English because of that guy."
↑ Paul Feig (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition - Writer & Director Commentary (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 01:21:44-01:21:56). Sony Pictures. Paul Feig says: "Corvette Summer is one of my favorite movies and Annie Potts was in it and her name was Vanessa. So when you watch this in HD, look at her name tag. Her name in the scene is Vanessa."

Gallery[]

Behind the Scenes[]

Non-Canon References[]

Other Works[]

[1] Annie Potts (2019). Cleanin' Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters (2019) (Blu-Ray ts. 37:36-37:54). Bueno Productions. Annie Potts says: "I remember at the time I had a Brazilian nanny, who was really cute and she had a really whimsical way of putting herself together. And I said, "I've got this funny audition, and I'd like you to dress me for it." So my Brazilian nanny dressed me for it, and I went in and got the role."

[2] Annie Potts (2019). Cleanin' Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters, Deleted Scenes (2019) (Blu-Ray ts. 9:44-10:34). Bueno Productions. Annie Potts says: "They were filming it at the Firehouse that we'd taken over. I just went to watch and Ivan saw me, "Oh great, Annie's here. Just put her in the scene." And I was like, "No, I-I just came to watch. I don't have a costume or anything." And so the costumer pulled me into the wardrobe trailer and put a coat on me and, "I don't think...I really wanted to make the character here." And I went, "Give me your glasses." So she had great, big thick bottle lenses and I put-I was married to those glasses for the rest of the time. Which was tricky because they were actually prescription lenses and they were quite strong so I was cross eyed with them.."

[3] Josh Gad YouTube "Who Ya Gonna Zoom? | Reunited Apart GHOSTBUSTERS Edition" 14:20-14:46 6/15/2020 Annie Potts says: "I hadn't started filming yet and I wend down. They were shooting at the fire house. I just went to watch and Ivan saw that I was on set and he went, "Great, you're here. Let's just put you in the scene," and I went, "I-I'm not even... this isn't even my costume or anything." And I literally took the glasses off the costumer who had like coke bottle glasses and put them on and then I was stuck with those glasses. I was like blind for the rest of the shoot."'

[4] William Atherton (2009). Ghostbusters- Slimer Mode (2009) (Blu-Ray ts. 21:48-22:03). Columbia TriStar Home Video. William Atherton says: "And, you know, Murray would tease Annie. And so she just had a way of cutting through. He'd be riffing something before a scene and you would hear Annie go, "Enough, Murray. Enough." She would start to do-- It was great."

[5] Annie Potts (2019). Cleanin' Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters, Deleted Scenes (2019) (Blu-Ray ts. 1:09:37-1:10:37). Bueno Productions. Annie Potts says: "I shot a couple of days before I did my first scene with Bill. I was like, 'Isn't Bill supposed to be here? What time is Bill's call?' Bill missed his call by some hours so much so that we had to start shooting that sequence with a stand-in. Then he came in and he clearly didn't know what the scene was. He hadn't looked at it. Bill was very willing to just improvise that scene. You can't now improvise the scene because we shot half of it so you kind of have to do the lines. He was a little embarrassed about having been that late so he was amusing everybody but not me so much. He was like, 'What's wrong? What's wrong, Annie? C'mon.' I said, 'Nothing's wrong. I would just like you to stand on your f***ing mark and say your f***ing line! And then I'll be fine.' And as I recall, the crew applauded."

[6] Annie Potts (2019). Cleanin' Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters, Deleted Scenes (2019) (Blu-Ray ts. 20:02-20:46). Bueno Productions. Annie Potts says: "When it premiered in Westwood, I got out on the red carpet and some people in official looking jackets came up and got me under both elbows and said, "Please step very quickly to the left so the celebrities can arrive." And I--they shuttled me into a little tiny room and there was Ernie standing there and he went, "Did they just do the same thing to you they did to me?" And I went, "Did they tell you to get out of the way so the stars could arrive?" And he said, "Yeah." Well, here we are."

[7] Annie Potts (2019). Cleanin' Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters (2019) (Blu-Ray ts. 2:03:17-2:03:26). Bueno Productions. Annie Potts says: "The guy in the hard hat ended up being my son's English teacher, and my son ended up getting into an ivy league school and majoring in English because of that guy."

[8] Paul Feig (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition - Writer & Director Commentary (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 01:21:44-01:21:56). Sony Pictures. Paul Feig says: "Corvette Summer is one of my favorite movies and Annie Potts was in it and her name was Vanessa. So when you watch this in HD, look at her name tag. Her name in the scene is Vanessa."

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