There was a lot of magic on the set of 1984’s Ghostbusters, but star Ernie Hudson thinks one person was responsible for much of it: Harold Ramis.
Speaking at Galaxy Con Columbus on Dec. 17 — which was also Hudson’s 79th birthday — the actor, who played Winston Zeddemore in the film, reflected on why he thought Ramis was the secret sauce.
“I think the reason you have Ghostbusters is because of Harold Ramis,” he said. He praised director Ivan Reitman and his “just brilliant” costar Bill Murray, but explained, “Harold was the guy who everyone respected enough to look past their own stuff.”
When there were disagreements on set, Hudson said Ramis “was always the voice of reason.” He continued, “You know, he said something, everybody trusted Harold, and so whenever things would happen and people would sort of scatter, Harold was the one that sort of got everybody back to the table.”
Ramis, who died in 2014 at age 69, played Egon Spengler in both Ghostbusters and 1989’s Ghostbusters II. He also co-wrote the script with Dan Aykroyd, who played Ray Stantz.
“I think what I learned from Harold and what I’ve taken with me throughout my career is just how do you conduct yourself, how do you deal with people,” Hudson reflected. It was not just about staying calm, he said, but about figuring out how to “sustain” and “live for another day.”
“I’ve been doing this now for 60 years — acting on some level, theater or whatever — but how do you maintain a career with people who aren’t necessarily balanced, who are probably high, and I don’t know, because they’re just weird,” he said. “But, how do I keep my sanity? How do I keep myself from going off the deep? I think Harold was as perfect an example of that as you could find.”
Ghostbusters also starred Sigourney Weaver as Dana Barrett, Rick Moranis as Louis Tully, Annie Potts as Janine Melnitz and William Atherton as Walter Peck.
Hudson reprised his role as Winston in Ghostbusters II as well as 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife and 2024’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. Murray and Aykroyd also returned for the new films, and Potts and Weaver had cameos as well. Hudson and some of the cast also appeared in 2016’s Ghostbusters, the all-female reboot.
When the 2024 installment was released, Hudson went viral thanks to his fit appearance on the red carpet, while wearing jeans and a tee shirt. “It’s nice to be noticed. It’s been a little bit of a surprise in the last couple of days,” he told PEOPLE in March.
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“I’ve always tried to be healthy,” he said. “My career hasn’t been about focusing on my physicality. The most important thing for me is just to try to maintain your health, just common-sense stuff.”
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