Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#474
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Ernie Hudson represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 42 years in, and Ernie is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Ernie Hudson appears in 27 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Ernie. John Candy: I Like Me is the clearest case: a film rated 7.9 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, quiet performance. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for comedy, adventure, family. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Andrew Stanton, Colin Hanks, Justine Bateman and others, Ernie Hudson helped set a standard other performers now audition against. Awards bodies have been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.
John Candy: I Like Me (2025) as Self - Actor (archive footage) · Ghostbusters (1984) as Winston Zeddemore · The Crow (1994) as Albrecht
Career snapshot
Ranked #474 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
27
1984–2026
Career length
42 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.9
John Candy: I Like Me
Average Nutevio score
6.2
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.9
John Candy: I Like Me
Most frequent director
Ivan Reitman
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Ivan Reitman
Most common genre
Comedy
13 titles
Average runtime
1h 51m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
7.1
out of 10
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio metric
Cultural impact and legacy, measured separately from craft — how far the work travelled once it left the cinema.
Nutevio Influence Score
6.7
out of 10
A quieter influence — felt inside the films rather than across the industry.
How far the work travelled past the people who saw it first.
What survives once the release-week conversation has burned off.
Institutional acknowledgement, weighted but never decisive.
Years of chosen, relevant work rather than years merely employed.
Statuettes, read as evidence rather than verdict.
Roles named without needing the film named alongside them.
Directors who wrote parts because this performer existed.
The reading other performers now have to answer.
Actor DNA
A fingerprint derived from the roles themselves — register, range and the kind of film they carry.
The shape of a career
Every performance plotted in time. Hover a point to read the title behind it.
Peak years
Where the scores, the awards and the sheer volume of work agree with each other.
Best decade
1990s
6.8 average MV
The 1990s are where the work and the material meet. The Basketball Diaries, The Crow, The Cowboy Way — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1990s
6.8
Across 5 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1990s
6.7
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1980s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Ghostbusters II, Leviathan, Ghostbusters.
Most productive era
2020s
11 films
The busiest stretch of the catalogue — volume that reads as appetite rather than availability.
Range, mapped
Genres down the side, decades across the top. Warmer cells mean stronger titles.
| Genre | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | — | 6.83 films | — | 7.32 films | 4.33 films |
| Action | — | 6.82 films | 5.03 films | 6.22 films | 5.82 films |
| Thriller | 6.01 film | 6.83 films | 4.02 films | — | 6.12 films |
| Comedy | 7.22 films | 6.22 films | 6.12 films | 6.32 films | 6.75 films |
| Crime | — | 6.63 films | 6.51 film | 7.01 film | 5.81 film |
| Romance | — | — | — | 7.21 film | — |
| Horror | 6.01 film | — | — | — | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1984Ghostbusters
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Winston Zeddemore.
Career peak
1994The Crow
Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Highest rated performance
7.9 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer.
Most recent film
2026Toy Story 5
The current state of the argument, as Combat Carl (voice).
Our order
Every performance in the catalogue, ordered by Nutevio Score.
Every title
Filter by genre or decade, and compare any two titles side by side.
27 of 27 films
as Albrecht
Directed by Alex Proyas
as Self - Actor (archive footage)
Directed by Colin Hanks
as Richard Jones
Directed by Haifaa al-Mansour
as Winston Zeddemore
Directed by Ivan Reitman
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
Loading credits…
The defining work
#1
Albrecht
The Crow (1994)
Performance score7.8
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Albrecht gives Ernie Hudson a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Self - Actor (archive footage)
John Candy: I Like Me (2025)
Performance score7.7
John Candy: I Like Me asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Self - Actor (archive footage) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Richard Jones
Nappily Ever After (2018)
Performance score7.6
Nappily Ever After asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Richard Jones is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Reggie
The Basketball Diaries (1995)
Performance score7.5
The Basketball Diaries asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Reggie is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movieStart here
A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.
Best entry point
as Albrecht
Start here. The Crow is the clearest statement of what Ernie Hudson does — accessible, 102 minutes, and rated 7.5 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Ernie at the most legible performance, then move forward in time so each film reads as a response to the one before it rather than a repetition of it.
Ghostbusters (1984)
Keeps the fantasy register of The Crow but asks for a colder reading of it.
The Basketball Diaries (1995)
A deliberate change of key after Ghostbusters — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Nappily Ever After (2018)
Keeps the drama register of The Basketball Diaries but asks for a colder reading of it.
John Candy: I Like Me (2025)
A deliberate change of key after Nappily Ever After — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Ivan Reitman
Director
2 films together
Notably Ghostbusters
George P. Cosmatos
Director
1 film together
Notably Leviathan
Curtis Hanson
Director
1 film together
Notably The Hand That Rocks the Cradle
Michael Lehmann
Director
1 film together
Notably Airheads
Gregg Champion
Director
1 film together
Notably The Cowboy Way
Alex Proyas
Director
1 film together
Notably The Crow
Donald Petrie
Director
1 film together
Notably Miss Congeniality
John Pasquin
Director
1 film together
Notably Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous
James Wong
Director
1 film together
Notably Dragonball Evolution
Paul Feig
Director
1 film together
Notably Ghostbusters
Jay Oliva
Director
1 film together
Notably Batman: Bad Blood
Haifaa al-Mansour
Director
1 film together
Notably Nappily Ever After
Jason Reitman
Director
1 film together
Notably Ghostbusters: Afterlife
David A. Weiner
Director
1 film together
Notably In Search of Tomorrow
Catherine Hardwicke
Director
1 film together
Notably Prisoner's Daughter
Bobby Farrelly
Director
1 film together
Notably Champions
Justine Bateman
Director
1 film together
Notably FEEL
Colin Hanks
Director
1 film together
Notably John Candy: I Like Me
Andrew Stanton
Director
1 film together
Notably Toy Story 5
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Ivan Reitman
Director
2 films together · 7.2 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
GhostbustersColin Hanks
Director
1 film together · 7.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
John Candy: I Like MeAlex Proyas
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The CrowAndrew Stanton
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Toy Story 5Jason Reitman
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Ghostbusters: AfterlifeHaifaa al-Mansour
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Nappily Ever AfterJay Oliva
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Batman: Bad BloodCurtis Hanson
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Hand That Rocks the CradleBobby Farrelly
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ChampionsDavid A. Weiner
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
In Search of TomorrowDonald Petrie
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Miss CongenialityMichael Lehmann
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
AirheadsCatherine Hardwicke
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Prisoner's DaughterGregg Champion
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Cowboy WayGeorge P. Cosmatos
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
LeviathanJohn Pasquin
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and FabulousPaul Feig
Director
1 film together · 5.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
GhostbustersJames Wong
Director
1 film together · 2.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Dragonball EvolutionJustine Bateman
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
FEELSix degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
John Candy: I Like Me
as Self - Actor (archive footage)
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Nappily Ever After
as Richard Jones
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Ghostbusters
as Winston Zeddemore
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
John Candy: I Like Me
as Self - Actor (archive footage)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
The Crow
as Albrecht
If the career had to be argued in a single scene, our editors would pick one from this film and rest the case.
In their films' words
“You can build a whole film around a performer who knows when not to speak. Ernie Hudson has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
42 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Modern Classic Performer
Awarded
Defining performances delivered inside the last twenty-five years, in films already being taught rather than merely remembered.
Comedy Legend
Awarded
13 catalogue titles in comedy, each one a reference point for the films that followed.
Our desk
Best ending, best opening, best twist and the rest — categories we apply to everyone we cover.
Best ending
The Crow
as Albrecht
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
The Crow
as Albrecht
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Nappily Ever After
as Richard Jones
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Prisoner's Daughter
as Hank
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
The Crow
as Albrecht
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Batman: Bad Blood
as Lucius Fox (voice)
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
The Cowboy Way
as Officer Sam 'Mad Dog' Shaw
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
The Cowboy Way
as Officer Sam 'Mad Dog' Shaw
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
If you like this performer
Tom Hanks
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
Bonnie Hunt
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Matt Damon
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Tim Allen
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
Joan Cusack
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
Have your say
Community
Which Ernie Hudson performance holds up best?
Our readers argue about this one. Make your case, or read the ranked debate already in progress.
Join the conversation
Reference
Continue exploring
Trending performers
Directors they work with
Collections to read next
