Fans are in disbelief that Ernie Hudson is 78 years old.
The actor from 1984’s Ghostbusters, as well as the new sequel Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, has gone viral on social media for his youthful looks.
The internet’s thirst hit a new peak when photos of the star appeared on the red carpet for a March 21 photo call in London. Joined by Frozen Empire costars Paul Rudd, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace and more, Hudson kept his outfit casual, wearing a black T-shirt, blue jeans and brown leather shoes.
On Tuesday, a user on X posted a picture of Hudson with a caption that got right to the heart of the matter: “Seventy f---ing Eight??”
The post, viewed over 4 million times by the following day, kicked off a series of other similar reactions from fans. "Absolutely unreal," one user commented, resharing the original post.
(Left-right:) Ernie Hudson, Paul Rudd, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace and Gil Kenan at the photocall for "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" in London on March 21.Karwai Tang/WireImage
“Confirmed. He’s seventy eight. I can’t explain it either,” wrote producer and Black List founder Franklin Leonard.
Noting that 78 is “almost 80,” one user called the Ghostbusters star “the aging dream.” And Buzzfeed reported that Hudson may be “a new supreme” when it comes to youthful good looks among celebrities like Gwen Stefani, Halle Berry and Rudd.
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When Hudson appeared on the March 13 episode of Sherri Shepherd’s daytime talk series Sherri, she expressed similar sentiments about The Family Business actor’s movie-star looks.
"Do you have women coming on [to you] and going, 'Can you sign my chest?' " asked Shepherd, 56.
The actor joked, "No, and I've been waiting for that!" Shepherd proceeded to pull out a marker for him as the studio audience laughed and cheered. “I got ‘Ernie Hudson’ on my chest, y’all!” exclaimed the host after he scribbled his name.
Hudson played Dr. Winston Zeddemore in the 1984 ghost-busting sci-fi-comedy that also starred Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Annie Potts and William Atherton. He and those costars reprised their roles in 2021's Ghostbusters: Afterlife and now Frozen Empire.
Directed by Gil Kenan and with a script co-written by Kenan and Jason Reitman (son of Ivan Reitman, who helmed the first two films in the Ghostbusters franchise), Frozen Empire also costars Carrie Coon, Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, Celeste O'Connor and Logan Kim.
(Left-right:) Dan Aykroyd, Annie Potts and Ernie Hudson at the premiere of "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" in New York City on March 14.Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
"The Spengler family returns to where it all started — the iconic New York City firehouse — to team up with the original Ghostbusters, who’ve developed a top-secret research lab to take busting ghosts to the next level,” according to Frozen Empire’s synopsis.
"But when the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second Ice Age."
The 2016 Ghostbusters led by Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon also included an appearance from Hudson. Earlier this month, he told The Independent he felt that film was “disappointing.”
"I enjoyed the movie, but I think it wasn’t what fans were hoping for,” he said. "I’m a fan of [writer-director] Paul Feig so I have nothing negative about him to say. Other than: I don’t quite understand why you do a reboot, you know what I mean? Just make another movie.”
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is in theaters now.
