Ernie Hudson, one of the lead stars in the original 1984 classic Ghostbusters, says that the studio behind the movie made the whole filming process much more challenging than fans might realize. But it's not just that things were tough for everybody. He was singled out for the worst treatment, even beyond the initial production.
It's a popular franchise, with no Ghostbusters movie ever dipping below 50% on Rotten Tomatoes. But just because the fans love them doesn't mean everyone involved had a great time. As the sole Black member of the leading cast, Hudson faced additional and different hurdles in his everyday life. Unfortunately, some of those same issues may have played a part in his less-than-stellar experience shooting, even if the rest of the cast was a delight to work with.
In a recent appearance on The Howard Stern Wrap Up Show, Hudson revealed just how much of a slog the Ghostbusters experience was for him, and it's morbidly illuminating. "I was the guy who was brought in, and so finding my place in the middle of that — and they were all welcoming and inclusive," Hudson said, referring to his castmates, including Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, and Dan Aykroyd. "The studio wasn't, and the studio continued not to be. So it made it very, very difficult because I was a part of it but then very selectively I was sort of pushed aside."
It might seem like he was shunned for being new to the production. But Hudson's experiences suggest something more unsavory, not unlike the racism issues continually seen in franchises like Star Wars. "When the posters came out, I'm not on the poster," he continued. "It took a long time. I went to the 30th-anniversary release of the movie, and I was invited to a theater in Chicago to introduce the movie, and I get there and all the posters are three guys. Now I know the fans see it differently, and I'm so thankful for the fans because the fans basically identified with Winston, especially young, I don't want to say minority kids, but a lot of kids."
Even as one of the most iconic Halloween movies ever made, Ghostbusters may have been scarier to film than it was to watch. "Ghostbusters, I would say, it was probably the most difficult movie I ever did just from the psychological perspective," Hudson went on. "The original script, Winston was in the very beginning of the movie. By the time we got ready to shoot the movie, Winston came in halfway through the movie. All those things…It definitely felt deliberate. And I'm still not trying to take it personally because I'm sure you know, anything bad, if you're African American in this country, anything bad happens to you, you can always blame it on because I'm Black. You don't want to go there. That's the last thing I want to do…I got nothing bad to say about anybody but it was hard. It took me probably 10 years to finally get past that and just embrace the movie and enjoy the movie. Ghostbusters was really hard to make peace with."
It's a valid viewpoint, especially when so few are willing to tackle subjects like racism in the public eye even today. Hudson's experiences with Ghostbusters are, unfortunately, indicative of the way many people of color have been treated (and are still treated) in entertainment and everyday life. His experiences may have helped result in a fantastic film and franchise, but no success is ever worth compromising someone's dignity and humanity in such a way.
Ghostbusters is available on Amazon Prime Video.
Source: The Howard Stern Show/YouTube