{"id":7815,"date":"2021-11-25T14:57:40","date_gmt":"2021-11-25T13:57:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1519855"},"modified":"2021-11-25T15:09:12","modified_gmt":"2021-11-25T14:09:12","slug":"ghostbusters-star-ernie-hudson-pays-tribute-to-harold-ramis-i-learned-a-lot-from-him","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/ghostbusters-star-ernie-hudson-pays-tribute-to-harold-ramis-i-learned-a-lot-from-him\/","title":{"rendered":"Ghostbusters star Ernie Hudson pays tribute to Harold Ramis: \u201cI learned a lot from him\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Morgan Jeffery\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 25 November 2021 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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*This article contains spoilers for Ghostbusters: Afterlife*<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cleanin\u2019 Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters is a project several years in the making and it\u2019s pretty much the definitive documentary for any fan of the franchise, speaking to almost all major players involved and answering every question you ever had about the the original 1984 film (and probably a few you hadn\u2019t even thought of).<\/p>\n

The two-hour feature is available to watch now via Rakuten TV \u2013 featuring contributions from almost the entire main cast and many members of the production team, it\u2019s an impressively candid look at what it took to put together one of the most iconic film comedies of all time.<\/p>\n

Ernie Hudson, who plays Winston Zeddemore in the Ghostbusters movies, speaks openly about how he was initially disappointed to see his role cut back from early drafts, with much of the character\u2019s backstory being removed \u2013 but speaking to RadioTimes.com<\/a>, Hudson insisted he has now learnt to embrace the film and its legacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know the studio was surprised that the fans embraced Winston\u2026. the studios made every effort in the very beginning to make sure that it was three Ghostbusters and Winston was sort of an add-on, not expecting him to be as popular as the other Ghostbusters. You know, right down to the posters \u2013 I still see posters promoting the movie with just the three guys [Bill Murray as Peter Venkman, Dan Aykroyd as Ray Ray Stantz and Harold Ramis as Egon Spengler].<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have to be honest and say it was the fans who really kind of forced me to take another look at it and really began to appreciate the movie. I have to say it\u2019s a perfect movie just the way it stands, so whatever decisions were made, apparently they were the right decisions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

Hudson also touches on \u201ctough\u201d early days on-set in the documentary film and how it was the late Harold Ramis who helped him adjust. \u201cHarold was the guy who would always make sense out of things,\u201d he confirmed to RadioTimes.com<\/strong>. \u201cSometimes, I\u2019d be on the set and I\u2019d kind of go \u2018What the hell is that about?\u2019 and Harold was always the guy who\u2026 and I don\u2019t think it was just me, I think when it was Billy or Dan or anyone\u2026 Harold was the glue that sort of pulled everybody together. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI would just watch him \u2013 the way he dealt with situations, the way he dealt with people. I learned a lot from him \u2013 in fact, I attribute a lot of my longevity in this business to watching guys like Harold, guys who are really grounded in who they are and what they do and how they connect with the business.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a team thing, you know, everybody comes together to tell the story, but not all actors have that approach. Seeing how Harold conducted himself and just his kindness and generosity toward me\u2026 i<\/span>t was very special. I\u2019ve always considered him a very close friend.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\""Cleanin'\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Behind the scenes with Slimer in Cleanin\u2019 Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters<\/span><\/figcaption> Bueno Productions<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

The arrival of Cleanin\u2019 Up The Town on Rakuten TV comes shortly after a new movie in the franchise, Ghostbusters: Afterlife<\/a>, was released to cinemas, with Hudson admitting that he\u2019d all but given up hope of a third film ever materialising with the original cast returning to their roles.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as we finished the second Ghostbusters, that was talk about another one, and over the years, fans would come up to me because they thought I had some insider information, which I didn\u2019t! Usually fans knew more about it than I did, because I don\u2019t follow a lot of stuff on social media.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut yeah, there was always talk, and then the studio would announce it many times, and then it would fall apart. So I had kind of given up hope. And then we did a video game [2009\u2019s Ghostbusters: The Video Game] that was really very well done. And I just said, \u2018Well, okay, that\u2019s the third movie, so we\u2019re done with that.\u2019 But, you know, that wasn\u2019t the case.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was almost on the set [of Afterlife] before I realised, \u2018This is actually happening. Yeah, we\u2019re doing this!\u2019.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\""Cleanin'\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Behind the scenes with Mr. Stay Puft in Cleanin\u2019 Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters<\/span><\/figcaption> Bueno Productions<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Ghostbusters: Afterlife follows the daughter and grandchildren of Ramis\u2019s character Egon as they uncover the Ghostbusters legacy and later reunite with the original team. Donning the famous jumpsuit and strapping on the proton pack again for the new film was \u201ckind of a spiritual experience\u201d for Hudson, with director Jason Reitman \u2013 son of original Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman \u2013 delivering what the actor considers to be a fitting tribute to Harold Ramis, who passed away in 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, Ghostbusters had so much impact on my life \u2013 and in different ways, you know, from just [feeling] frustration and disappointment to excitement,\u201d said Hudson. \u201cI mean, it\u2019s just run the gamut. And the fans have been just so amazing for so long\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut getting on the set, seeing Bill Murray and Dan, the three of us in our jumpsuits, it was almost like time hadn\u2019t passed, and seeing Sigourney [Weaver] and Annie [Potts] and then meeting the new cast who are truly amazing, wonderful actors, and seeing Jason and his dad \u2013 because Ivan was always around \u2013 all of it, it was just a real sort of\u2026 completion.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what I loved about the movie and its tribute to Harold Ramis. Fans have offered me condolences for many, many years, and there was so much love and respect for Harold and I think it would have taken someone like Jason to to really give him the tribute and the respect that he was due.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more about Ghostbusters: Afterlife:<\/strong><\/p>\n