Rudd stars as affable teacher Gary Grooberson in Covid-delayed Ghostbusters reboot Afterlife, telling news.com.au the gravity of upholding the 1980s film franchise's legacy certainly wasn't lost on him.
"All the kids my age, when that movie came out it was a big deal," the father-of-two said.
"And it's become for many people a seminal film growing up, so getting to work on it was very cool."
Kids take centre stage in Afterlife. When a single mother with two kids is forced to move to "a creepy old farmhouse" they inherited from their family patriarch, they quickly discover not only some supernatural goings-on inside, but a treasure trove of strange equipment belonging to their grandfather, one of the original Ghostbusters.
The theme of family lineage continued off-screen, too, with Jason Reitman, the son of original Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman, at the helm with his dad's guidance.
"One of the things that I could never seem to get over was the fact that we're working on this material and there's such a connection between the original and this one, and I'd look over at the monitor and see Jason Reitman and his dad, and what Ghostbusters meant to that family, and this lineage," said Rudd.
"It was almost as if what was happening on screen was actually happening off screen by the video monitors. There was this real special feeling about it."
High spirits on set were helped along by the attitudes of the buzzing young cast, according to Rudd, particularly with it being one of the film's main characters, Logan Kim's, first feature film role.
Kim stars alongside McKenna Grace (Gifted), Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things) and Celeste O'Connor (Freaky).
Asked about working with the fresh-faced actors, Rudd said the enthusiasm they brought to set was refreshing.
"I loved hanging out with that kid (Kim), he was so funny and sweet. Every one of those kids."
He continued: "McKenna was great, she's brilliant in the movie. Finn I'd seen in Stranger Things, and what a cool kid. Celeste was lovely. They were all so talented, and they really are the heart of this film.
"There was a genuine enthusiasm from all of them for being there and working on this film so you kind of get caught up in that," he said, adding that between takes he was responsible for a lot of the 'dad jokes' on set ("Have you heard about the new pirate film coming out? It's rated 'Arghhh'," he teased of his repertoire).
So is Rudd a believer in the supernatural himself?
"I've had some pretty interesting things happen to me in my life," he said.
"Nothing that had me wishing I had a proton pack or a ghost trap, but there's a bunch that come to my mind.
"I think there's a lot of things in the world and in the universe and beyond that we don't quite understand. I'm a pretty logical and a pretty cynical person so I tend to think there's an actual scientific explanation for a lot of things. But there are some things that I can't find an explanation for."
He went on: "I've had experiences where I think, 'well that was specific. That wasn't just a general weird phenomenon'. But I don't want to talk about it because I'll sound insane," he joked.
• Ghostbusters: Afterlife is in cinemas from New Year's Day, Saturday, January 1, 2022.
