The large group of Ghostbusters fans who’ve felt that Ernie Hudson’s character Winston Zeddemore seemingly got the shaft with a lack of screen presence and backstory can now add another member to their ranks: Ernie Hudson. In Entertainment Weekly’s recent cast reunion special issue, the actor penned an essay about his disappointment with how the final script cut down his role in the film. Hudson writes about how excited he was to explore this character who was much more integral to the plot, only to find out at the last minute that his part had been drastically reduced.
The night before filming begins, however, I get this new script and it was shocking. The character was gone. Instead of coming in at the very beginning of the movie, like page eight, the character came in on page 68 after the Ghostbusters were established. His elaborate background was all gone, replaced by me walking in and saying, “If there’s a steady paycheck in it, I’ll believe anything you say.” So that was pretty devastating.