Controversial Leslie Jones 'Ghostbusters' Patty Role Was Written For Melissa McCarthy

When the first official trailer for the Ghostbusters reboot came out earlier this month, many fans took to social media to express their discomfort over Leslie Jones' role, as the only black actress was playing a street-smart role instead of a scientist. Now, it has been revealed that the role in the Sony film was originally written for Melissa McCarthy.

Paul Feig, who co-wrote and directed the upcoming Ghostbusters reboot, recently sat down with Empire to talk about the trailer and what it meant in the greater picture, and it turns out that, when he and Katie Dippold wrote the screenplay for the film, they were actually thinking of McCarthy for the role of Patty.

"We had written the role with Melissa in mind, but then I thought I've seen Melissa play a brash, larger than life character. She's done it in my movies before," Feig told the outlet, referring to McCarthy's Oscar-nominated role in Bridesmaids. Still, it didn't take him long to think of Jones to play Patty. "When I make a movie, I want to find the funniest people I know and once I know what's the funniest thing about them I want that to be the thing that I put on screen and let shine. This is the role that Leslie can shine comedically in."

The interview was done days before the controversy regarding Jones' role exploded, so it's actually not a reaction. Still, in the days following the release of the trailer, Feig has defended his casting choices in a very outspoken way, taking to Twitter to ask fans to "grow up and leave my cast alone."

And haters, attack me all you want but when you attack and insult my cast, you've crossed the line. Grow up and leave my cast alone.

— Paul Feig (@paulfeig) March 8, 2016

Up until the trailer, little was known about the characters, so when it came out that there were three scientist women and one street-smart character, it resonated negatively with many that Jones, the only non-white member of the cast, was the one playing the street-smart woman.

Ghostbusters will be out in theaters on July 15.