ComingSoon Senior Editor Brandon Schreur spoke to Ernie Hudson about the new animated series Angry Birds Mystery Island. Hudson discussed what drew him to the project, the importance of animation, his work in the Ghostbusters franchise, and more.
“Based on Rovio’s popular game Angry Birds, Angry Birds Mystery Island introduces three new Hatchling characters—’Mia,’ ‘Rosie,’ and ‘Buddy’—and a foreign-exchange piglet named ‘Hamylton’ who are mistakenly catapulted onto an uncharted island. The ragtag bunch quickly learns that, in order to survive and make it back home, they will need to unlock the mysteries of the island together.”
Both Part 1 and Part 2 of Angry Birds Mystery Island Season are now streaming on Amazon Kids+ and Prime Video.
Brandon Schreur: I just wanted to say, first of all, congratulations on Angry Birds Mystery Island. I watched your episode just this morning and it was a lot of fun, it was really cute, so congratulations.
Ernie Hudson: Well, thank you. I’m so honored to have been a part of it. It was a lot of fun to do.
I’m sure. It sounds like you’re having fun in there, too, so I think that really comes across. I’m wondering if you can tell me a little bit about how you got involved in doing this project. I know you’ve done a number of voice-over roles in animation before. What was it about this show, Angry Birds Mystery Island, that made you want to jump in and do it?
At this stage of my career and in my life, I’m always happy when someone says to me, ‘We’d like to work with you’ and invite me to work. I don’t audition for parts anymore. But I’m always looking for something a little bit different, something that’s kind of special that I haven’t necessarily done. I never did an angry bird before. So when they called and offered me the part, I read the script. It was really the character that drew me to want to do this. I think Marlon is so unusual, so kind of over-the-top, and so all over the place with his emotions. I just thought that this would be — I never played a character quite like this and it’d be fun to do, even though it’s voice-over. I think, for me, now, in my career, I’m not necessarily looking for the next job as I am looking for something that’ll be fun to do, something I’m going to enjoy, and something that’s going to push me a little bit. Marlon definitely did that.
Oh, sure, totally. It’s a really fun character, too. Angry Birds has been around for a long time as a franchise. There were two animated movies. Obviously, it’s been a game for forever just to play on your phone. Were you familiar with it at all? Are you good at Angry Birds?
Honestly, no. I’d like to say yeah but, no, I really wasn’t. I’d heard about it because everyone has heard about Angry Birds, but I’m a little leary about getting caught into games because I can become obsessive with it. Tetris was enough for me to go, ‘This may not be a good thing for me.’ It wasn’t until I read the script. Since then, I’ve gone back and I’ve watched all the shows, the episodes that we did. When I met the production team, they were so excited, and that enthusiasm was just contagious. I thought, ‘Yeah, I want to be a part of this.’
Sure. That kind of leads to my next question I was going to ask you, I don’t know what the future of the Angry Birds franchise exactly looks like, but if they were to say, ‘Do you want to keep voicing this character in more of the show or a potential movie?’ would you be interested?
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. And for all those other animated producers, I’m always available. To me, animation and the work that I do is almost like the dessert. I mean, film and television, theater, that’s a different part of me. Animation, it’s really just fun. It’s sort of a different exploration. I’m always open. I haven’t done a lot because I really haven’t been asked to do as much as I’d like, but I’ve never pursued it. I’ve never sort of gone out. For a lot of this, you need to audition and I’m just not feeling that. I’m a little too old for that. But I’m here, I’m ready, I’m ready to go to work.
No, I got you, that makes total sense. That leads to another question I was going to ask you, too, just about animation in general. This show, Angry Birds Mystery Island, it’s obviously made for children. It’s a genre of media that I feel like some people immediately brush off, they’ll just be like, ‘It’s for my kids, I don’t care what they’re watching, it doesn’t matter to me.’ I don’t think that’s really fair because I feel like kids deserve good entertainment, too, and it takes all kinds of time and effort to work on these shows and projects. Is that something that’s going through your head when you’re picking a role like Angry Birds Mystery Island? Do you think adults should be paying attention to this kind of thing?
Well, first off, they used to have cartoon shows and they were supposedly made for kids, but then they were kind of interesting. So when there’s a project that has some sort of — I don’t want to say some sort of moral story, but some sort of theme that addresses life, in general, I think that’s important. And I think Angry Birds is one of those shows that teaches. There are lessons in there.
There are cartoon shows for adults, now. I’ve done a few of those Adult Swim things. I do feel that we’re sort of in this thing together and those of us who have lived as long as I have, we’re sort of wanting to make sure we stay connected to the younger generation and to be a part of that. These shows, Angry Birds and those that are directed towards youth, it’s an important way of staying connected to having some influence. So much has changed in my lifetime that’s a little bit different than what I imagined. But it’s no less viable and important, so it’s important that we continue to participate, be a part, and have some influence without forcing ourselves.
For me to have a chance to do a show like this, I think it’s really, really important. I try to do that with my work in general; the Ghostbusters stuff or I did a show called Quantum Leap that I think brings families together so they can at least have a discussion together. Shows where the parent can watch without feeling tortured to have to sit through it. I think this is very, very important, I think it’s an important show and I think it’s important for me to do this and be a part of it.
Yeah, definitely. I totally agree, I think it’s for kids but adults can watch it, too, it’s got a lot of good lessons. I think it’s really good. You brought up Ghostbusters, I wanted to quickly ask you about that. You’ve had a busy year — or a busy past couple of years — coming back for Afterlife and Frozen Empire. What was it like to return to that role? Was it a lot of fun?
Yeah, it was a lot of fun. I, honestly, had reached a point where after the second movie, we didn’t think there’d be any more. I’d sort of given up on it. But it was such an important part to fans. During that whole time, people were still putting on their jumpsuits and their backpacks. When we finally came back together, it was almost a spiritual moment. I see Bill Murray and Danny in their jumpsuits, I see Sigourney Weaver and Annie Potts and it was very, very special. I realized that’s been a part of my life for over half of my life. At any time that I’m on the street, somebody will refer to it. You know, ’Ernie, who you gonna call?’
It’s important for me now that there are chapters in every major city around the world. They do a lot of charity work, so a lot of good has come out of that and I’m very, very proud of that. Overall, what I’ve tried to do in my career — obviously, I don’t just do certain kinds of roles, but I am conscious of trying to do shows that cross generations and that touch people in a way where they can get something out of it or something to contemplate.
Sticking with the whole animation thing involving Ghostbusters, I think it was a couple of months ago when they announced they were doing a Ghostbusters animated series for Netflix. I know Jason Reitman is involved with all of that. They haven’t really said what the scope or anything is going to look like or if there will be any returning characters, but would you open to voicing Winston in a Ghostbusters animated show?
I told Jason, ‘Don’t ever let anybody do Winston’s voice unless I’m gone. Like, gone for real.’ Yeah, I don’t know what happened with the original [Real Ghostbusters] thing, there are a lot of stories or whatever. I believe the director wanted Arsenio [Hall], he was a friend of his. Maybe, I’m not sure, but the studio felt that none of us original Ghostbusters would even think of doing an animated [show.] That might be true for the other guys who made a lot more money than I did, but I love doing voice-over work and I’d be very heartbroken if anyone voiced Winston from this point moving forward.
Sure. I’m crossing my fingers we’ll get to hear you in there because I would love that. I’m a big fan, that’d be cool. We touched on this a little bit but, at this point in your career, do you have a preference when it comes to live-action or animation? It kind of goes back to what we said earlier; I feel like people can immediately dismiss animation because they think it’s for kids, but there’s so much that animation can do and so many different worlds it can take you to. Do animated projects like Angry Birds or I know you voiced a character in Star Wars: Bad Batch, does that carry the same kind of weight for you as doing stuff in live-action?
I think it’s all the same. When I decided to be an actor as a career path, I knew that I had to prepare for and be ready to do — I think it’s all valid. Whether it’s theater, television, film, or animation. They all sort of offer a different muscle, you know what I mean? I’ve been able to do a little bit of all of it, but I love animation. It’s different. I always want to be a part of that but, like I said, I don’t always go out and openly pursue the roles. But I’d like to do a lot more and I’m always open. I’ve worked very hard to sort of build a career where the bills are paid, the mortgage is paid, and the kids are out of college. At this stage of my life, it’s more about the fun. When I got the script for Angry Birds, I thought, ‘This will be a fun character.’ I knew about the Angry Birds world, but this Marlon character was fun. I’m open to doing a lot more, but I’m only interested in working with people who want to work with me. I’m not begging for a job.
That makes total sense. Regarding your character, Marlon, he’s a lot of fun. He’s a very angry bird who hates pigs. I thought that was great. I have to ask is there anything that makes you, Ernie Hudson, that angry in real life? Is there anything that grinds your gears like that?
It’s very hard for me to express anger. I think the way I grew up, you always have to wait until it builds up and then you just let it all out. I think I feel disappointed more. You kind of go, ‘Really?’ I don’t know, there are things I kind of disagree with. As I’ve lived long enough, I sort of allow — obviously, there must be a space for that, even though I don’t understand. I have four sons and one has a view of the world that is uniquely his own. I don’t know where it comes from, but I kind of go, ‘You know what? The fact that he holds it…’ I just want to allow people space to feel what they feel, even though, I will say, so much of it I don’t understand. But it’s not all given to me to understand. I’ve been very, very blessed and fortunate, so I realize that there are some experiences that I haven’t had. I don’t know if that answers the question, but for me to lose it, it means I really doubled down on something. And then I have to question myself, ‘Why am I so…?’ I think all of this life thing, it takes trusting the greater good will evolve. It’s hard sometimes to do that, but that’s the journey, that’s what I’m reaching for.
Sure, I totally know what you mean. I’m almost out of time with you here, Ernie, but just one last question for you. You mentioned that at this point in your career, you’re looking for different kinds of roles, fun stuff, and stuff you haven’t done before. Do you have any dream projects, dream characters, or dream people you’d want to work with someday you’re hoping you still get around to?
There are some amazing people who do some incredible work. I went to college at Yale, I was only there for a year, I didn’t stay to finish. But Meryl Streep was there when I was there, I’d love to work with her, I think she’s amazing. Not just Meryl, there are some wonderful actors out there I’d love to work with.
I’d love to do a rom-com. I keep telling my manager that and he keeps saying, ‘Oh no no, you don’t need to do that.’ And I’m like, ‘But I want to! I want to get the girl!’
I want to see that, now!
Yeah, that’d be fun to do. I’m just throwing that out there. Also, action. I’ve always been in great shape. Just recently, they discovered me on a t-shirt and suddenly became aware of that, but I’m like, ‘I want to do the action stuff!’ It’s always been, ‘We’re doing this action show and Ernie is in a suit.’ And I’m like, ‘But I can do that.’ I want to have a chance to do a real, fun action movie. That’d be really cool.