Ernie Hudson Praises Bill Murray for Advocating for His Ghostbusters Return: ‘That Was Just Very, Very Special’

Bill Murray has always had Ernie Hudson’s back.

During a solo panel at Rhode Island Comic Con on Saturday, Nov. 2, Hudson, 78, opened up about a time when Murray, 74, stood up for him during their earlier Ghostbusters days.

“Bill Murray is the only actor I think I’ve ever worked with who when they tried to get him to do another [Ghostbusters] — remember it was about 20 years before we came back with another movie after the second movie. But Bill just basically said, ‘If Ernie Hudson’s not in it, I’m not doing it,’ ” the actor said. “There are not many people who sort of stand up for you. And that was just very, very special. So I love all the guys. They’re very, very supportive.”

Hudson continued to rave about costars Murray, Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd’s “willingness to be inclusive” toward him on set, “because the studio was not.”

“I had been acting for, I don’t know, a lot of years before I even did Ghostbusters. The studio was really not as welcoming, but the guys were,” he recalled. “When we do a scene, the guys would say, ‘Wait a minute, Ernie’s not saying anything. So let’s make sure he’s included.’ So a lot of those lines probably could have gone to somebody else, but they were kind enough to make sure that I was always included.”

He added, “The studio sort of went out of its way to make sure that I wasn’t included. It came to the poster. It came to the PR stuff. But the guys were really [inclusive], and that’s why I really considered them really all very, very special people in my life.”

Representatives for Columbia Pictures did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Hudson has starred as Winston Zeddemore in all four movies within the Ghostbusters franchise, beginning with the original film in 1984. He even made a cameo in the female-led Ghostbusters reboot in 2016.

The only original, primary cast member to not appear in all four films (which now include two modern-day set sequels) was Ramis, who died in February 2014 at age 69.

In the past, Hudson has spoken fondly of his experience working on the franchise’s many films. In 2014, he reminisced about his favorite memories to Entertainment Weekly.

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“For me, it was being in New York, shooting in New York. And it’s hanging on the streets with Bill Murray the few times we got a chance to just hang out, and even shooting, [seeing] how much the fans love Bill Murray,” he said at the time.

“They were [in love with him], and what amazed me in watching — ’cause I’d observe — is how he would wade into the crowd, and he just gave this love back,” he continued. “A lot of actors, they hide, they don’t want all that attention, but Bill would just become one with them.”

Hudson added: “And it was a beautiful thing to watch. I saw [Murray] recently, and he still has that thing of just including people in a very special way. That was, for me, the thing I take away from it the most. Just seeing him with the people and seeing how he dealt with his fanbase.”