Ernie Hudson on ‘Ghostbusters’ pay inequality: ‘A lot of things play into it’

Jordan Hoffman
·3 min read
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Ernie Hudson, the 78-year-old actor who has appeared in all five of the “Ghostbusters” movies and several “Ghostbusters” video games, spoke with The Independent about the franchise in the lead-up to “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.”

The role of Winston Zeddmore was originally offered to Eddie Murphy, and when that didn’t happen, his character’s screen time was greatly reduced. As such, Hudson’s pay was much smaller than that of the other three Ghostbusters, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis (the latter two also wrote the script). He also did not appear on any of the posters.

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“It’s very tempting, sometimes, to blame anything that doesn’t work in your life on racism. But there are a lot of things that play into it. It’s not quite that simple,” he explained. “We can say it’s a racial thing, but I think if Eddie Murphy had played the role I played, he would have been paid very well. I think studios are in the business of making money, and they pay what they feel they have to.”

Before busting ghosts, Hudson worked consistently as a day player on pretty much every television show of the era, from “Fantasy Island” to “The Incredible Hulk” to “One Day at a Time,” “Taxi,” “Little House on the Prairie” and “The A-Team.”

In the first “Ghostbusters,” released in 1984, his character shows up about halfway through, when the gang puts out a Help Wanted ad. He is not interested in the supernatural; he’s just looking for a j-o-b. 

He returned for the sequel in 1989 saying that Murray fought for him to get a more substantial role, even saying he wouldn’t return unless it happened. (“That doesn’t happen very much in this industry,” Hudson commented.) Like Aykroyd and Murray, he made a cameo appearance for the 2006 Paul Feig-directed reboot starring Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones. (Indeed, he played Jones’s uncle.) Of that film, he said, “I’m a fan of Paul Feig, so I have nothing negative about him to say. Other than: I don’t quite understand why you do a reboot, you know what I mean? Just make another movie.”

He added, “Fans were really invested in the story and the characters and I think it was disappointing. I enjoyed the movie, but I think it wasn’t what fans were hoping for.”

“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” grossed $62 million in worldwide ticket sales this weekend, putting the franchise at the $1 billion mark as per Deadline.

The 2016 reboot topped out at $229 million, while the last sequel, “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” only hit $204 million. The Feig production, however, reportedly had a budget nearly twice the size of the 2021 film. 

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