Known worldwide for his role as Winston Zeddmore in the “Ghostbusters” saga, the American actor Ernie Hudson nevertheless keeps a painful memory of this experience. He recently explained why.
The Ghostbusters movie made him famous all over the world. However, actor Ernie Hudson, who plays the character of Winston Zeddmore in this great classic of fantastic comedy, has very painful memories of the filming and even of the years that followed…
In a recent interview at the Howard Stern Wrap Up Show, Ernie Hudson, last integrated into the ectoplasmic adventure, reveals that the reception of the director Ivan Reitman and the other actors was particularly warm. Everything would have been perfect if the Columbia Pictures studio had considered it better…
“I’m the guy who arrived last, I had to find my place in the middle of it all, and they were all welcoming and inclusive”says Ernie Hudson in comments relayed by The Hollywood Reporter. “But the studio wasn’t, either at the start or afterwards. It made it very, very difficult because I was part of the adventure, but then I was pushed aside very deliberately. ”
“It all went on for a long time. When I came to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the film’s release, there were only the other three actors on all the posters”continues Hudson. “I know that now the fans see that differently. And I’m very grateful to them because a lot of young people, I don’t mean from a minority background, but a lot of kids have identified with Winston.”
Nearly four decades after the release of Ghostbusters, Hudson, who reprized his role in the 1989 sequel and recent film starring Paul Rudd, still seems uplifted. “Early in my career, I was always told that it was almost impossible to make it, but if you signed for a big movie with a big studio, the movie came out and it was number 1, then that would change your career”he notes. “Ghostbusters didn’t do that for me. I was working almost non-stop, I shot the movie and then I had to wait two and a half years to get another role.”
In this interview, Hudson reveals that his character was originally intended to appear at the beginning of the film, while in the end, we only meet him in the middle of the story. “It was not an easy experience”blows the 77-year-old comedian. “I would say Ghostbusters was probably the most difficult movie I’ve done from a psychological standpoint. All of those things…For me, it was clearly deliberate. And I always try not to take it personally.”
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“If something bad happens to you when you’re African American in this country, you can say it’s because you’re black. You don’t want to go down that road. That’s the last thing I want to do. “concludes the actor. “I have nothing bad to say about anyone, but it was tough. It took me ten years to get over that, enjoy the movie, and just feel in tune with it. It was really hard for me to make peace with Ghostbusters.”
Ernie Hudson is now very careful whenever the opportunity to return to the franchise arises, eager not to feel like a “insert”. Will he be in the next movie? “If I do it, it has to make sense.”
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