#Ernie Hudson Felt Emotional Returning as Winston in Ghostbusters: Afterlife

“#Ernie Hudson Felt Emotional Returning as Winston in Ghostbusters: Afterlife”

Ernie Hudson described how it felt to wear the proton pack once again after so many years and it transported him right back to the 80s.

Returning to the role of Winston Zeddemore in Ghostbusters: Afterlife was quite the experience for Ernie Hudson. In the original Ghostbusters movies, Hudson played Winston alongside Bill Murray’s Peter Venkman, Dan Aykroyd’s Ray Stantz, and Harold Ramis’ Egon Spengler. Though Ramis has since passed away, the surviving Ghostbusters stars suited back up one more time, complete with the proton packs, for the all-new sequel from director Jason Reitman.

In a new interview with THR, Hudson opened up on how it felt to come back for Ghostbusters: Afterlife. For his part, Hudson felt almost as if he’d been transported straight back to the 1980s once he was physically in character. It’s also a bit jarring for him to see, as he still has memories of seeing the director of this new movie as a 6-year-old on the set back in the 80s.

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“When Bill [Murray] and Danny [Aykroyd] and I put on our jumpsuits and our proton packs, it transported me back. It was cool — just how much I love that family. It was almost spiritual. I didn’t cry, but some of those emotions welled up in me. To see Jason who was running around the set at 6 years old and now he is at the helm of it; I was so proud of him. I am so appreciative that he established himself as a wonderful director-producer before stepping into Ghostbusters.”

This is not technically the first time Ernie Hudson has revisited his Ghostbusters role since the 80s. Along with the other core cast members, including Harold Ramis before his passing, Hudson recorded voiceover lines for his character for Ghostbusters: The Video Game. He admits that was “cool,” but it wasn’t quite the same as physically putting on a proton pack with his pals. All in all, Hudson is also still bewildered by just how much Ghostbusters has grown, remaining hugely popular with new generations of fans.

“I had heard, although he never told me this, that Bill [in prior years] did not want to do another one. So I wrapped it up as this will never happen. Although we did [Ghostbusters: The Video Game (2009)], and that was kind of cool. But we were never in the same room for that. I had accepted that [a film] was never going to happen. Ghostbusters altered my life in a weird way. When you make a movie and it is successful, that has an impact, but Ghostbusters — it was a shift. And the way people responded to it and continue to respond to it — it crosses generations. I see little kids who just love the movie.”

The original team does appear in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, but the focus is on a new cast of characters serving as Egon’s family members. It stars Carrie Coon, Mckenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, Logan Kim, Celeste O’Connor, and Paul Rudd. Along with the aforementioned Ghostbusters actors, the sequel also includes Sigourney Weaver and Annie Potts as Dana and Janine, respectively. We might see more elements from Ghostbusters II in a sequel as teased by Jason Reitman.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife is now playing in movie theaters. This news comes to us from The Hollywood Reporter.