During FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention's opening press conference for its 2024 convention, I was able to ask a question to Ernie Hudson, who is most famous for playing Winston Zeddemore in the "Ghostbusters" movie franchise. Hudson, who was in a great mood that Thursday morning - and looking absolutely JACKED, for a 78-year-old - gave a thoughtful response to my question (and others) during the few minutes in which he sat at the microphone.
Here's what he had to say.
Signs of the Times: Hey, Ernie. My name’s Aaron, and I’m running the Twitter account for the convention this weekend. First of all, I just wanted to say thank you so much for coming.
Ernie Hudson: It’s great to be here.
SotT: When I was younger, I loved "Ghostbusters" - one of my favorite movie franchises - and now, as a parent, it’s so fun to introduce these movies to my own children. I have a son that’s almost four, and I was a little nervous to get him into "Ghostbusters" - I thought it might be too spooky - but he loves it. So, I was wondering if you could just touch on […] the longevity of that franchise, obviously, being one of the main Ghostbusters in the '80s, and now, being kind of a caretaker or steward of the franchise, moving forward.
EH: You don’t realize, you don’t plan those things, or you don’t even understand the impact that it would have. I think if studios knew how to make a hit, all the movies would be hits, but you really have no idea how people will react and respond. It’s one of those things that… I think we all have this sort of fear of what’s to happen. As I get older, I count friends who’ve "transitioned." We know that it’s not a forever thing. I think we’re always aware of that, throughout our lives. Little kids are concerned about who’s in the closet when the lights go out. I mean, it touches some primal part of us, and I think the movie does that in a way that’s comedic. It’s funny. We can laugh at our fears. But it crosses generations in an amazing way. Not all movies do that. “The Crow” was a movie that was very popular, at a certain stage in life, but then the older people didn’t necessarily respond to it, or little kids, but there’s a time in life, you know? There’s a period. But “Ghostbusters,” it’s sort of… I think I was watching the 30th anniversary showing in Chicago, and there were older people – [in their] 80s, 90s – little kids, and they were all laughing at different things, but they all found something in it that they responded to. […] I’m just very, very thankful to have been a part and that it still stands.
*****
This is the first of several posts with exclusive content from FanX 2024. Keep it here for all the good stuff. You can also leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter (here and here) and try to find us on Facebook for more pop culture conversations.
Until next time.
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