Kristen Wiig Tackles Mental Health, Dark Comedy and Next Year's 'Ghostbusters' Reboot

Before viewers could see Kristen Wiig as one of the Ghostbusters in the reboot of the original movie in July next year, they could watch her in her latest movie, "Welcome to Me," which opened in U.S. theaters and video-on-demand on Friday, May 8.

Wiig plays Alice Klieg, a reclusive woman with a borderline personality disorder who wins the lottery and secures a televised talk show for herself.

Wiig spoke to Reuters recently about the movie, specifically playing a mentally-challenged woman and tackling it as a comedy, and of course, "Ghostbusters."

On how the film explores Alice's mental health issues and portrays it as dark comedy, Wiig said she and the director had a lot of talk on how the comedy was going to be portrayed because it should never be the intention to make fun of the character and make her a crazy person to be laughed at.

"She does have this disorder and she does suffer. At the same time, she legitimately does things that are funny and odd and it's OK to laugh because that's who she is as a person. But we wanted to be really respectful of that," Wiig said.

On how the film provides a commentary on today's world, Wiig said, "Fame from the outside looks like the perfect life, the answer to all your problems, and it does have this glitter around it. And I think that the fact that the first thing she wanted to do was to be seen says a lot about being a human being."

"Her coming from this place of probable isolation and not leaving her house, and now she has this opportunity to connect with people, is something that people will relate to."

On how she thinks comedy has evolved for female comedians, Wiig said she started on Saturday Night Live 10 years ago and she has been asked about women and comedy since she started on the show.

"To some point, it's good because the answer (now) is a little more positive, there are more projects involving women and directed by women, but at the same time, the more we talk about it, the more we're saying it's still an issue. We still have a long way to go."

On the "all female" label on the new "Ghostbusters" reboot, she said: "Even when I was doing press for 'Bridesmaids,' people kept calling it a female comedy. I was like, 'Can't we just call it a comedy? We don't say male comedy.' I think that also implies that only women want to see it, and I don't think that's the case. Funny is funny."

On which Ghostbusters character she is most like, she answered definitively, "Bill Murray. Venkman for sure."

"Ghostbusters" is slated for a July 22, 2016 release. Wiig will co-star with Melissa McCarthy ("Bridesmaids") and SNL stars Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones.