Ghostbusters, Toy Story 5 & Hollywood’s Biggest Mishaps
- As depressing as it might sound, there have been times - entire centuries of human history, actually - before Ghostbusters star Ernie Hudson became a household name.
- Fortunately, this worldwide imbalance has corrected itself to everyone's benefit, and now we can enjoy as much Ernie Hudson as we can get our hands on.
- Hudson's voiceover career, in particular, was something I wanted to discuss with him when we recently spoke via Zoom because, in addition to those mentioned above, he appeared...
As depressing as it might sound, there have been times – entire centuries of human history, actually – before Ghostbusters star Ernie Hudson became a household name. Even more incomprehensively, there have been prolonged periods after the blockbuster film’s 1984 release where Hudson has struggled to find work. In fact, when Ghostbusters was adapted into the animated series The Real Ghostbusters in 1986, Hudson couldn’t even get the very same role he’d just played in the blockbuster (the part went to Arsenio Hall).
Fortunately, this worldwide imbalance has corrected itself to everyone’s benefit, and now we can enjoy as much Ernie Hudson as we can get our hands on. The seemingly ageless 80-year-old is currently starring in two ongoing drama series: CBS’ police procedural Boston Blue, where he plays a preacher and patriarch; and BET’s The Family Buisness, which conversely features him as a crime boss. His voice can also be heard on a wide array of cartoons including his recently Emmy-nominated work on angry birds Mystery Island and the upcoming Toy Story 5 as Combat Carl, taking over for the late Carl Weathers.
Hudson’s voiceover career, in particular, was something I wanted to discuss with him when we recently spoke via Zoom because, in addition to those mentioned above, he appeared in a 1985 episode of Super Friends, making him the first person to play the DC character Cyborg. He also had a recurring role in transformers-one-2024-story-optimus-prime-chris-hemsworth/
Ernie Hudson: I did a lot of pilots that didn’t last, but Oz, we did for six seasons, even though we only did eight shows a season. Oz was special in so many ways. The writing was amazing. Tom Fontana, who I had worked with on St. Elsewhere, just a great writer. We all felt it was groundbreaking. It was kind of new for television and the cast was really committed.
But it wasn’t fun. When I do Boston Blue,I enjoy it,but in Oz,it was always somebody in my face,and I had to get them to back the hell up. You knew you had to show up on point. We all grew a little bit from working on that show.
Out of Oz, television was in the process of changing. After Oz, there’s The Wire and so many shows. It changed the tone of television as we no it. It’s the same way I felt with The Crow.They both had an impact on how those stories are told.So I feel very blessed to have been a part of both of those.