Movie was ‘difficult’ for me to film

“Ghostbusters” legend Ernie Hudson is haunted by his experiences on the set of the classic 1984 sci-fi action-comedy.

Hudson, 77, opened up about the “psychological” damage he incurred working on the original movie that launched the franchise, revealing how being “selectively pushed aside” made filming the project “difficult.”

The veteran actor launched his bombshell appearance on “The Howard Stern Wrap-Up Show” by declaring “Ghostbusters” director Ivan Reitman — who died at 75 in 2022 — a “really, really a brilliant man and I have just so much love and appreciation for him.”

Although Hudson had praise for his A-list co-stars Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd — he didn’t share the same warm words for the Columbia Pictures studio execs behind the scenes.

“I was the guy who was brought in, and so finding my place in the middle of that — and they were all welcoming and inclusive,” Hudson told SiriusXM’s Gary Dell’Abate and Rahsaan Rogers. “The studio wasn’t, and the studio continued not to be. So it made it very, very difficult, because I was a part of it but then I very selectively was pushed aside.”

Hudson, who portrayed paranormal hunter Winston Zeddemore in “Ghostbusters” and its 1989 sequel, also claimed he was left out of the marketing and press materials.

“When the posters came out, I’m not on the poster. It took a long time,” Hudson said with a sigh. “I went to the 30th-anniversary release of the movie and all the posters are three guys.”

The “Oz” alum continued: “Now I know the fans see it differently, and I’m so thankful for the fans because the fans basically identified with Winston, especially young, I don’t want to say minority kids, but a lot of kids.”

Hudson recollected how the script had been changed several times after he signed on to play the role. “The original script, Winston was in the very beginning of the movie,” he said of the film that also co-starred screen icons Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Rick Moranis and Annie Potts.

“By the time we got ready to shoot the movie, Winston came in halfway through the movie. All those things . . . It definitely felt deliberate.”

He concluded by admitting the movie “wasn’t an easy road,” adding, “It was probably the most difficult movie I ever did just from the psychological perspective . . . And I’m still not trying to take it personally.”

Hudson also revealed that during ongoing negotiations for a new installment in the “Ghostbusters Afterlife” series — set to begin filming in March — he’s making sure he isn’t treated like an “add-on.”

“If I’m going to do it, it has to make sense. When you start out in the business, I was always told it’s almost impossible to succeed,” he said. “But if you get in a major movie from a major studio and it comes out and it opens No. 1, it will change your career. Well, ‘Ghostbusters’ didn’t do any of that for me. I was working pretty nonstop, [then] I did ‘Ghostbusters,’ and it was two and a half years before I got another movie.”