Dan Aykroyd: 5 Awesome Performances & 5 That Sucked

3. Dr. Raymond Stantz - Ghostbusters (1984)

It's pretty easy to forget Aykroyd's role in Ghostbusters in the face of the other characters around him. He's not quite the straight man (Egon), or the skeptic (Winston) and he can't hope to compete with the acerbic cynicism and scene-stealing wit of Bill Murray, but his role is the most important. Because he's the audience's way in.

He might be an expert - meaning there is fundamental distance between him and the audience - but his excitement and naive enthusiasm ultimately makes him the most sympathetic character. That's why it's him who accidentally summons the Stay Puft and why he is castigated for not saying yes when asked if he's a God. He's basically the everyman and the easiest one to root for.

It also helps that he's hilarious, quietly picking up less flashy gags as Bill Murray attempts to make it all about him. Perhaps that's why it was Stantz and not Venkman who was invited back for that auspicious cameo in Casper...