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The Diss That Took Ghostbusters’ Ernie Hudson Ten Years To Get Over

The Quantum Leap star says he was "selectively pushed aside" on-set.

Though Ernie Hudson has a long, distinguished career and is currently thrilling audiences in NBCโ€™s Quantum Leap, his most famous role remains Ghostbustersโ€™ Winston. The 1984 film is considered a comedy classic and still has a very loyal fan base. However, for Hudson, it wasnโ€™t the life-changing experience everyone thinks it was. While speaking with SiriusXMโ€™s Gary Dellโ€™Abate and Rahsaan Rogers on The Howard Stern Wrap Up Show, the actor explained โ€œfrom the psychological perspectiveโ€ the project was โ€œthe most difficult movieโ€ heโ€™s ever done.

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Hudson has nothing but admiration for Ghostbustersโ€™ producer/director Ivan Reitman, saying he โ€œwas really, really a brilliant man and I have just so much love and appreciation for him.โ€ He also praised his co-stars, noting that his issues are with how the studio treated him.

โ€œI was the guy who was brought in, and so finding my place in the middle of thatโ€”and they were all welcoming and inclusive,โ€ he said. โ€œThe studio wasnโ€™t, and the studio continued not to be. So it made it very, very difficult because I was a part of it but then I very selectively was pushed aside.โ€

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gQzsGcMdCo

As an โ€˜80s kid, I can attest that we didnโ€™t always have the best Black representation in comedy movies. We usually had to make due with the funny Black friend whoโ€™s only there to add snarky one-liners and ridiculous slang. Winston was different, he was just as smart as his colleagues, and felt more relatable because he seemed to properly understand the absurdity of their job. Of course, as I got older, I began to notice how Winston was definitely treated as โ€œthe other Ghostbuster.โ€

โ€œWhen the posters came out, Iโ€™m not on the poster. It took a long time. I went to the 30th-anniversary release of the movieโ€ฆand all the posters are three guys,โ€ Hudson said. โ€œNow I know the fans see it differently, and Iโ€™m so thankful for the fans because the fans basically identified with Winston, especially young, I donโ€™t want to say minority kids, but a lot of kids.โ€

Hudson and Rogers went on to discuss how the actor felt like he was not being treated the same as his co-stars. Racism isnโ€™t always overt, thatโ€™s what microaggressions are. The Family Business star also dropped the bombshell that heโ€™s in negotiations for a new film in the franchiseโ€”presumably the follow up to 2021โ€™s Ghostbusters: Afterlife. This time around he wants to make sure heโ€™s โ€œnot an add-on.โ€

โ€œThe 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,โ€ he said. โ€œAll those thingsโ€ฆIt definitely felt deliberate. And Iโ€™m still not trying to take it personally. Anything bad, if youโ€™re African-American in this country, anything bad happens to you, you can always blame it on because Iโ€™m Black. You donโ€™t want to go there. Thatโ€™s the last thing I want to doโ€ฆI got nothing bad to say about anybody but it was hard. It took me 10 years to get past that and enjoy the movie and just embrace the movie. Ghostbusters was really hard to make peace with it.โ€

While itโ€™s not surprising to find out that a studio in the โ€˜80s was disrespectful to the one Black star of its major franchise, itโ€™s still hard to hear. Hudson is a bonafide legend who inspired a whole generation of young Black kids as Winston. If weโ€™re really committed to the idea that things are different now, then perhaps the next Ghostbusters movie will finally give Hudson and Winston a chance to highlight the characterโ€™s importance and impact on the franchise and fans.

Straight From The Root

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