Ernie Hudson Talks ‘The Family Business’ Season 2 and Time During Quarantine [Exclusive Interview]

If you’ve been a fan of films, then you more than likely know who Ernie Hudson is, and if not, you might recognize him from fan-favorite movies and TV shows such as Ghostbusters, The Crow, L.A.’s Finest, Grace and Frankie, and many more.

Recently, I spoke with Hudson about his role on the upcoming season of The Family Business and how he fell in love with the show, his love for Grace and Frankie, and how Ghostbusters changed his life.

One thing that Hudson isn’t a stranger to is action, and on the upcoming second season of The Family Business, his character L.C. Duncan enjoys his fair share of it.

The second season of The Family Business will pick up right from where the finale of Season 1 ends.

“It will pick up from the finale, a little time jump. It’s going to open up on that scene, but a little time jump. Now that we’ve tried to smooth that situation out, but only to realize there are a lot more serious threats going on,” Hudson explained.

Season 2 is a whole new intensity for the Duncan family as Hudson teases a strenuous season that could level Season 1 in depth.

“It is a serious question if all of my kids are going to survive. There’s a serious and unexpected threat that happens and does not go away very easily. Just a whole level of intensity increases with trying to hold on. We come up with a product that hits the market, and it’s so popular, but that changes our positions in the cartel, and that changes the dynamic of everything.”

For Hudson one of the biggest challenges connecting with his character was understanding his thought process, “I think the biggest challenge for me in the beginning was I’ve always believed that if you work hard, and all the things we’re taught in America, I’ve never felt like I needed to add a criminal element in order to realize my dreams.”

“Obviously, L.C. Duncan feels it’s not only just an option but maybe his only option. Trying to understand that in a very real way, because you’re playing a guy who believes it allows him to make some choices that I personally could not make. I know how to play it, but how to really embody that and to understand that in the beginning, it was difficult. I get it, but there’s a part of me that knows I could never go to the places that he’s gone,” he continued.

There is one thing, however, that truly allows him to connect with his character. “What I do love is he has a love for his family, which has always been an important thing to me,” Hudson said.

“How do you raise your kids? How do you protect them? How do you protect future generations? How do you live with the choices you make? I can look at my life and say that I’ve never tried to get even with someone or deliberately sabotage someone, but obviously, I haven’t wanted to be successful in that same way. I realize I used to believe everyone believed the way I believed I realized that people are fighting really hard to win. They interpret winning in a different way, L.C. certainly interprets winning very different than I do.”

From the first read, Hudson fell in love with The Family Business. “My first reaction was that I love the family. I love the family that’s committed to sharing the same ideas about survival and truly committed to each other.”

“It had a lot of layers that I could play. Also, it’s an intact black family. I hadn’t seen that; a family who wields a certain amount of power, and that was kind of cool. After I met the cast, who are all these amazing actors and interesting people, each one in their own way, I thought, ‘this would be a lot of fun to do.’”

The Family Business got picked up for a more extended second season but had to halt filming. “We got picked up for 13 episodes, but of course, then coronavirus happened, and the whole world, you know, got put on hold, and we were in the middle of that.”

“We’re in the middle of our season, and then we had to shut down like everybody else. We haven’t gone back to work yet, but we’re still trying to figure out the logistics. Obviously, the union has certain requirements they’re asking for, the city and state as well. Recently, in the last day or so, California’s had a spike, an increase, which is just the opposite of what everybody expected. So how do we go back to work and keep everyone safe?” Hudson continued.

Currently, only half of Season 2 has been filmed. “In the business we’re in, how do you do a scene that’s very intimate, that includes a lot of people and practice social distancing? How do we do it is what I think everyone is trying to figure out, there are a lot of suggestions on the table, but nothing that I feel comfortable with, so we’ll see how they work it out.”

When asked about his time on Grace and Frankie, Hudson sang his praises for his co-stars. “First off, I’ve been a fan of Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Sam Waterson, and Martin Sheen for years. I’ve worked with Sam on a season of Law & Order, and Martin I’ve known, personally, for a long time. But to work with Jane and Lily was just fun.”

Hudson has had his fair share of action, drama, and comedy roles, but his time as Jacob on Grace and Frankie is a favorite because of the simplicity.

“What I loved about my character on Grace and Frankie is he was a guy. He wasn’t trying to be some kingpin like on The Family Business. He wasn’t trying to reconcile a broken relationship and make up for his character like in L.A.’s Finest.”

“He’s the guy who just works, he’s been very blessed and fortunate, and he just happens to like this lady for no other reason than he thinks she’s cool. For me, to just play a guy without having to make him angry or make him something was just a lot of fun. For me, I just loved going to work and watching Jane get into her process, or Lily do what she does. I just had fun being there. Grace and Frankie was just more about just being as opposed to doing.”

When it comes to being that same free spirit in real life; however, Hudson works hard to try to maintain the same mentality.

“That’s where I think I’m at my best, or when I can let go. We all have things, when I get into some odd feeling I should be more responsible, or I could do better, I’m trying to get out from under that. That demand to achieve something, to do something, when you have a family you’re always aware of everything you have to do. I think being a free spirit is just to let all that go and say things are going to work out. I’m trying to be more of that and trying to be that free spirit,” Hudson explained.

Hudson couldn’t give many spoilers when asked about Ghostbusters: Afterlife, other than rave about the amazing cast. “It was an amazing experience to get back with everyone. I adore this new cast, the younger people, Jason Reitman did an amazing job; the script is really amazing.”

“I wasn’t sure how you could tie it into, or make it an extension of the first couple of movies, but Jason is an incredible film-maker. I read the script, and I was very, very impressed. As I get older, I really appreciate what the movie has been for me and how it’s impacted my life.”

When asked if he could’ve ever imagined the fame and status Ghostbusters would garner when initially signing on for the movie in 1984, he had this to say. “No, the fact that 36 years later, people will still see me on the street and go, ‘Hey Ernie, who ya gonna call?’ or ‘that’s a big twinkie,’ is crazy.”

“I do these cameo shoutouts, and you hear these stories about how people grew up watching the movies over and over again. They still dress up now 30 years later in a ghostbuster jumpsuit, and they still have toys from when they were younger. There’s something about Ghostbusters that I think crosses generations, and I never expected that but I’m so thankful to have that on my list of credits,” Hudson continued.

Currently, Hudson is taking full advantage of some much needed time off. “I’ve been asking for time to be at home, so I gotta be honest the quarantine hasn’t been too bad for me.”

“I spent the last five years getting on and off planes, sometimes working multiple shows simultaneously, so I wanted to be home, and that’s been great. When it first started happening, and people were shutting down, I had to rush out of LA to make it to Minnesota, where my wife and two of my sons are because I didn’t want to get stuck in LA by myself,” Hudson stated.

As much as we all love the idea of having nothing but free time to do whatever we’d like, it can sometimes become a little overwhelming when given the opportunity.

“I took a cross country trip, which was fun to do. For the most part, I’m finding it a little frustrating, and I’m a little bit surprised I’m not as productive as I thought I would be. I thought if I had all of this time, I’d be able to do more. I can’t seem to do anything, so I’m using this time to learn a little bit more about myself.”

Even with a lifelong career in the entertainment business, there’s one person that Hudson hasn’t had the chance to work with but would love to. “I’d love to do a fun story with Meryl Streep. We were at Yale at the same time, and I’ve always admired her ability to transform on screen, and I would love to get a chance to play with her.”

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Be sure to catch Ernie Hudson as L.C. Duncan on The Family Business Season 2 on July 2nd when the first six episodes will be available to stream on BET+.

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