Ernie Hudson throws some shade at 'Ghostbusters' for scaled-back role

Over the course of Ernie Hudson’s illustrious acting career, he’s arguably best known for his ensemble role as Winston Zeddemore in the 1980’s sci-fi classic film, Ghostbusters.

On the film’s 30 anniversary, Hudson is speaking out about his role as Winston in an eye-opening essay for Entertainment Weekly.

In the essay, the 68-year-old actor expresses his appreciation for being a part of the Ghostbusters franchise. Hudson also expressed some of the mixed emotions he felt playing “the fourth Ghostbuster,” with the least amount of lines and camera time.

Hudson writes:

I look back on Ghostbusters in a very fun way, but it’s got so many mixed feelings and emotions attached to it. When I originally got the script, the character of Winston was amazing and I thought it would be career-changing […] I’ve heard, over the years, that the part had been written for Eddie Murphy. It was a bigger part, and Winston was there all the way through the movie.

Hudson reveals he took a massive pay cut to play the role of “Winston Zeddmore” and says he was “shocked” when he received the film’s official script. Most of Winston’s lines, Hudson writes, had vanished:

Instead of coming in at the very beginning of the movie, like page 8, the character came in on page 68 after the Ghostbusters were established. His elaborate background was all gone, replaced by me walking in and saying, ‘If there’s a steady paycheck in it, I’ll believe anything you say.’

Hudson called the downsizing of his role “devastating.” He didn’t take the modified script lightly. He fought for a bigger role:

The next morning, I rush to the set and plead my case. And [the director] basically says, “The studio felt that they had Bill Murray, so they wanted to give him more stuff to do.” I go, “Okay, I understand that, but can I even be there when they’re established?” And of course, he said no, there’s nothing to do about it. It was kind of awkward, and it became sort of the elephant in the room.

When press around the film began to roll out, Hudon’s character wasn’t included in several of the official movie posters, nor was he highly visible in the film’s trailer.

Hudson went on to say that he sees things differently now and holds no form of animosity toward any of his fellow cast members including, Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, or the film’s director Ivan Reitman:

30 years later, I look back at the movie and it works very well the way it is. I think the character works with what he has to work with. But I’ve always felt like, ‘man, if I could’ve played that original character…’

Hudson saves some heartbreak near the essay’s ending:

The sad part is the thing that I thought that Ghostbusters would do, which is really kickstart my career into high gear, it never really materialized. I’ve never been told that I’ve gotten a job because of Ghostbusters; I think there have been a few jobs that I’ve lost [because of it].

Head over the Entertainment Weekly to see Hudson’s full essay celebrating the 30th anniversary of Ghostbusters.