Ernie Hudson is happy to still be a part of Ghostbusters, but he’s thankful his career isn’t dependent on it.
In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment, the 77-year-old actor, best known for his role as Winston Zeddemore in the Ghostbusters franchise, recalled his momentous career experiences on both the big screen and small screen.
“I can’t think of any other movie I’ve gotten because I was in Ghostbusters,” Hudson said before discussing his latest role in Bobby Farrelly‘s sports comedy film, Champions, where he plays basketball coach Phil Perretti. After landing the role, the actor was excited to reconnect with Woody Harrelson, whom he worked with in the 1994 comedy, The Cowboy Way.
“It’s kind of odd, because every time I do a TV show, I feel like I’m the guy just starting out,” Hudson said. “But on this show, I’m clearly the old guy! I’m the senior citizen who gets to play with these kids—or, at least, they seem like kids to me. I also referred to the cast of Champions as kids, and I was corrected. They’re not kids, they’re young adults.”
Hudson also shared his connection to the disabled community.
“I had [a] friend with a daughter who had disability issues and they put her in a home when she was two or three years old,” he recalled. “There was a way of trying to hide [disabled] people when I was growing up. So when I read the script for Champions, I loved the fact that it showed this community. These young actors in the movie are amazing, and I hope it opens the door to them getting more work.”
Hudson is also a main cast member on BET’s series Carl Weber’s The Family Business.
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“Doing network TV can be a big commitment,” he said. He has starred in primetime shows, including The Last Precinct, Broken Badges, Meteor, and APB. He’s also a regular on the reboot of Quantum Leap.
“At this stage in the game for me, it’s always about asking, ‘Do I want to sign up for something if I’m not going to enjoy it?,'” he said. “I want to like the people I’m working with and I want to enjoy the location. Quantum Leap is a really fun group of people who make it fun to go to work.”
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