‘That's quite an honour’ - Ernie Hudson reveals unusual request from Ghostbusters fan

Virgin Radio

9 May 2024, 07:40

The latest Ghostbusters movie sees some of the original cast members reprising their classic roles. One of them, the legendary Ernie Hudson, visited Virgin Radio to talk all about it.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire - which is now available to rent and buy on digital - sees Ernie once again back as Dr Winston Zeddemore, alongside the likes of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Annie Potts. Meanwhile, Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon and Finn Wolfhard reprise their roles from the first reboot in the series, 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Joining the Chris Evans Breakfast Show with webuyanycar, Ernie told Chris: “If you like Ghostbusters, definitely I think see this movie. You’ll enjoy it.”

The actor, of course, starred as one of the Ghostbusters in the beloved 1984 original and the 1989 sequel. Regarding how much people love the sci-fi films, Ernie recalled the time that a stranger asked him to walk them down the aisle. He told Chris: “She came in and said, ‘We're getting married this afternoon. Will you give me away?’ And I'm like, ‘That's quite an honour, but I don't know you.’ And she said, ‘You do know me. You signed my ankle.’ I said ‘What?’ I apparently, at some convention, signed my name on her ankle, and she had it permanently tattooed. And if someone has your name tattooed on him, how do you not give them away?”

He added: “They're still married… so good things work out!”

Regarding the narrative of the new instalment, Ernie said: “There's one dominant ghost that is so formidable, that it almost seems impossible to defeat. Over the past 40 years, my character, who came in looking for a job, has now gone on to become a billionaire. He runs out Zeddemore Industries, but part of what he does is manage this little Ghostbuster thing that costs him money. But he funds this and puts this new team together, to kind of hand things over, But this new threat is so ominous and so threatening that the only way we can defeat it is to come together.”

Aside from starring in the Ghostbusters movies, Ernie has appeared in countless films and TV shows, including featuring alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in 1995’s The Basketball Diaries. He told Chris: “They gave me the part because I'm a six-foot black man. I think they assume that I played basketball. I'm not into sports. I don't know anything. And so when we got into rehearsal, Leonardo was just playing circles around me and I couldn't keep up with him. But, of course, the movie had me as an ex-basketball player. I did get Chet Walker, Wilt Chamberlain, a bunch of ex-NBA players, they got together with me and tried to give me some quick pointers, which weren't quick enough, but I love that movie. That's one of the movies I really enjoyed making the most.”

Read what Ernie had to say about his ‘emotional’ Ghostbusters reunion with the original cast here.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is available to rent or buy digitally now.

For more great interviews listen to The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with webuyanycar weekdays from 6:30am on Virgin Radio, or catch up on-demand here.