Original Ghostbusters star Ernie Hudson reveals he had to test himself “for weeks” after coming into contact with an actor who tested positive for coronavirus during the filming of crime drama The Family Business. The 74-year-old actor, who next reprises his role as Winston Zeddemore in the Jason Reitman-directed Ghostbusters: Afterlife, the third movie set in the original Ghostbusters canon, was working on BET+ series The Family Business and female-led Bad Boys spinoff L.A.’s Finest when both series were among the productions forced to shutter amid the coronavirus crisis, which earlier pushed Afterlife from its original July 10 release date to March 5, 2021.
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“The last scene we shot [on Family Business] was a shootout where the guy jumps out, gets shot and the wife cradles him,” Hudson told the Star Tribune. “I go pick him up and put him in the car. Well, that [actor] ends up with coronavirus. Totally freaked me out. He’s recovered now, but I had to check myself for weeks.”
While celebrating the 35th anniversary of Ivan Reitman’s original Ghostbusters last summer, Hudson said the new movie from Jason Reitman will be “more in line with the original Ghostbusters” than the 2016 start-from-scratch reboot where Hudson made a cameo appearance as funeral home owner Uncle Bill.
“Unfortunately, we made the two movies and we didn’t get a chance to take it beyond that for whatever reason,” Hudson previously told the Countdown City Geekcast when confirming his return. “I’m glad that Jason Reitman, Ivan Reitman’s son, is gonna be directing and producing this movie, and writing it. And he was a kid when we were doing the other movies, in fact he’s in the second movie, so I know there’s a love for the movie. He’s an amazing filmmaker and I think he’s gonna take it to a whole other level.”
The decades-later sequel reunites Hudson with his Ghostbusters castmates, including Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Annie Potts, and Sigourney Weaver, who reprise their original roles from the 1984 and 1989 films directed by the elder Reitman.
“So as we move into the future, I’m just really excited that he’s gonna give the fans what they’ve been looking for. I think the last movie with the ladies, it was a good movie and enjoyable, but it wasn’t quite what a lot of the fans wanted,” Hudson added of the reboot that starred Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, and Kate McKinnon as the founding Ghostbusters. “I think [Afterlife] will be more in line with the original Ghostbusters, so I’m excited about it.”
Ghostbusters: Afterlife, starring Mckenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, Carrie Coon, and Paul Rudd, opens March 5, 2021.
Photo credit: Bobby Bank / Getty Images
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