Ernie Hudson was not originally on board with the all-female Ghostbusters reboot. The actor, who starred in the original franchise as Winston Zeddemore, first dismissed the idea, telling The Telegraph in late 2014, "If it has nothing to do with the other two movies, and it's all female, then why are you calling it Ghostbusters?" So, when news that original cast members like Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray would be making cameos in the reboot, a lot of fans assumed Hudson would not be joining them. But now that the movie has been made and is getting ready for its big summer release, Hudson has changed his tune. He even appeared alongside original cast members Murray, Aykroyd, and Annie Potts on Jimmy Kimmel Live to support the reboot, and now, it appears that Hudson will be in Ghostbusters after all.
Despite voicing his disapproval of the reboot, Hudson finally caved and agreed to appear in a cameo role in the new Ghostbusters movie. Yes, the man who once said (in that same Telegraph interview), "I hope that if they go that way [all-female] at least they'll be funny, and if they're not funny at least hopefully it'll be sexy," is appearing in the film. He has since thankfully refrained from making any kind of requests for "sexy" ghostbusters publicly, and hopefully, he's now as excited for the new movie as so many fans are.
As for how his cameo happened? Well, after the Ghostbusters reboot cast — Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones — was announced in January of 2015, Hudson apparently had a change of heart. When The Wrap got in touch with him following the casting announcement, the actor said, "Four fiercely funny, foxy, females busting ghosts... phenomenal." And, later that year, he was spotted on the Ghostbusters set filming a cameo. After filming, Hudson tweeted out a photo of himself with the new cast, writing, "Today was one of the most fun days of my career. Great respect for Paul [Feig] and this amazing cast of ladies."
The nature of Hudson's cameo — what role he plays and when he comes in throughout the movie — is being kept under wraps. However, Hudson did reveal in an interview with People that all original cast member cameos would "come in at quite different times," meaning fans won't get to see the original ghostbusting gang together on screen.
In addition to his cameo, Hudson has become a vocal supporter of the film, promoting it in various interviews. In an interview with the Tony Tone Show on Vintage Sound 93.1 in Muscatine, IA, Hudson praised the film and predicted that all the hate and sexist backlash would disappear as soon as the movie is released. "I think a lot of the criticism will go away once they see the movie, because I think the movie is going to be pretty extraordinary," he said (via ScreenRant).
So, there you have it. One extraordinary, cameo-filled Ghostbusters reboot coming up.
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