Last month, following an appearance on the Howard Stern Show, Ernie Hudson garnered attention for his comments about Columbia Pictures, the studio behind Ghostbusters, saying that during the making of the original 1984 film and its marketing, he had felt “selectively pushed aside,” adding that the studio wasn’t inclusive and throughout the years “continued not to be.”
While at the time, Hudson would go on to question his involvement in the upcoming Ghostbusters sequel, a recent interview with Looper would provide a much more positive update, with Hudson saying the producer of the next Ghostbusters, Afterlife director Jason Reitman, had assured him that the character of Winston will be “very much part of the franchise.” Hudson would also now praise the script for the upcoming sequel, proclaiming it was “great” and “a lot of fun.”
In a new interview with Yahoo!, Hudson would again talk about some of the issues he’s had with Columbia Pictures, revealing, “They couldn’t have paid me less money,” speaking not only about his salary but the highly lucrative merchandising deals that he lost out on.
“I know so much of this business is about how you’re perceived, and [the perception is that] certain people deserve to make outrageous amounts of money. Whereas other people who work just as hard and may have more credits are not thought of as deserving in that way and the studios are insulted they would even ask for it.”
Not blaming Columbia entirely, over the years, Hudson has made it well known that some of those he thought were in his corner didn’t have his best interest at heart.
“When you go into negotiate thinking people are going to do the right thing, you sign a contract without really being able to read and understand it, and you rely on agents who don’t really care about whether or not you understand it. A lot of times, they’re just happy to have a client get a job and aren’t looking out for your best interests. Then you look around and say, ‘Why don’t I get any royalties from all this stuff that has my face on it?’ And they go, ‘Oh, that’s not part of your deal.’ That was a really hard awakening. I was a single dad then, too, and I was focused on getting the job. You think that people are protecting you, and they aren’t.”
As part of last month’s Howard Stern interview, Hudson was quick to praise his co-stars, saying that Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis were all “welcoming and inclusive,” and as part of the Yahoo interview, he would further elaborate on his working relationship Murray, saying that he’s always had his back.
“A lot of things have been said about Bill Murray, but from day one, he’s been like, ‘Ernie, I got your back.’ He’s the one who always says, ‘I will not do another Ghostbusters movie unless Ernie’s involved.’ That’s unusual in this business.”
While Hudson’s return in the next Ghostbusters has yet to be confirmed by Columbia Pictures Ghost Corps, as revealed last week, Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, James Acaster, and Emily Alyn Lind have all joined the cast, alongside Afterlife stars Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon.
