Ernie Hudson gives ensemble films someone sensible to turn to. We value his intelligence and steadiness, particularly in Ghostbusters, though too many parts ask him to be reassuring when they could ask rather more.
Fi1m perspective
In Ghostbusters (1984), Ernie Hudson makes Winston Zeddemore feel like someone who might exist outside the film. His grounded manner suits a comedy whose chief pleasure is listening to its team talk, rather than following its slight plot. We laughed at those easy exchanges, and Hudson’s steadiness helps make the company so agreeable. Ivan Reitman gets the ensemble working together without making everyone compete with Bill Murray’s deadpan. Hudson’s contribution is quieter, and the film would be less companionable without it.
The difficulty is finding parts that use him fully. Substantial leading roles proved hard to find after that breakthrough, and he continued in supporting parts through the 1990s. Solomon in The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992) and Sergeant Daryl Albrecht in The Crow (1994) belong to that stretch. Television gave him more room: as Warden Leo Glynn in Oz (1997–2003), he had six seasons to develop a complicated authority figure. It is the part to seek out if Winston has come to seem the whole story.
Dragonball Evolution (2009) shows the limits of hiring a dependable actor for a film that has not worked out why we should care. Hudson plays Sifu Norris in James Wong’s brisk, bland fantasy adventure, whose thin writing gives its mystical quest little urgency. Chow Yun-Fat supplies welcome silliness, but the uneven action is another problem a cast cannot solve. We would not recommend the film on Hudson’s account, however much we might welcome his name in the credits.
His return as Winston in Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024) keeps the association alive. Those returns need not be the only way to use an actor so comfortable within a group. We would rather see him given another sustained part like Leo Glynn than keep relying on the pleasure of recognising Winston. For an evening’s viewing, start with Ghostbusters; allow for the thin plotting and effects that sometimes demand more attention than they deserve.
Biography
Ernie Hudson is an American actor. He is known for his role as Winston Zeddemore in the Ghostbusters franchise, beginning with the 1984 film and continuing in Ghostbusters II (1989), the 2016 reboot, Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024).
Hudson trained at Wayne State University, where he earned a BFA, and attended the University of Minnesota and Yale University. He began his career in theatre in Detroit as a playwright and actor with Concept East, the oldest Black theatre company in the United States.
On television he played Warden Leo Glynn in Oz (1997–2003) and Herbert "Magic" Williams in Quantum Leap (2022–2024). Other film credits include The Crow (1994) and Miss Congeniality (2000).
