Ernie Hudson Recalls Emotional Dinner with “The Crow” Costar Brandon Lee Before His Death: 'One of Those Rare People'
"I have no doubt he would’ve been a major star had he lived," Hudson said of the late actor
Joe Maher/Getty; everett
Ernie HudsonErnie Hudson recalled how kind costar Brandon Lee was to him and his wife Linda Kingsberg at a dinner days before the young actor’s accidental death in 1994 during production on The Crow.
After Linda’s brother died suddenly in his sleep, Hudson, 78, and Linda flew from North Carolina, where The Crow was being filmed, to Minneapolis. Before they left, the couple had dinner with Lee, although Linda was still upset.
“At dinner, he was very, very nice to her,” Hudson recalled in a new interview for celebrity trainer Tony Horton’s Power Up with Tony Horton. Hudson said he was also disillusioned with making movies after his brother-in-law’s death, but Lee told him to hang in there.
Related: The Crow 30th Anniversary: All About the Shocking On-Set Death of Star Brandon Lee at Age 28
“I was just in one of those spaces,” Hudson said. “And he was saying, ‘Ernie, hang in.’ He said, ‘I’m not just starring in this. I just signed a three-picture deal. I’m getting married. We just bought a house. Life is good and I’m sure it’s gonna happen for you. Just hang in there, and you’ll be like me.’ ”
When Hudson and Linda arrived in Minneapolis, Hudson said he got a call that Lee was dead.
“You know that old saying, ‘If you wanna make God laugh, tell him your plans.’ You don’t know,” Hudson said, adding that it was “hard to believe” his friend had died.
Lee was fatally wounded by a prop gun before The Crow was finished. He was 28. Hudson, who starred as Sgt. Daryl Albrecht, told Horton, 66, he didn’t want to finish the film at first but was glad they did.
“I think he would have been very proud of the movie and I have no doubt he would’ve been a major star had he lived,” Hudson said.
Earlier in his interview with Horton, Hudson said he met Lee — the son of Bruce Lee — about eight years before making The Crow and it was Lee who wanted him to be in the film.
“Brandon was just one of those rare people, [he] had a way of just including everyone, you know?” Hudson told Horton.
Related: The Crow Trailer: Bill Skarsgård and FKA Twigs Star in Haunting First Footage from Remake
Hudson recently starred in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. Meanwhile, a reboot of The Crow starring Bill Skarsgård as the character Lee played, opens on Aug. 23.
The Crow franchise is based on a comic book created by James O'Barr. The story centers on Eric Draven, a musician who is resurrected and seeks revenge for his murder and the murder of his fiancée. Rochelle Davis played the fiancée in the 1994 film, while FKA Twigs has the part in the reboot.
“Obviously, it was a terrible tragedy, and it’s definitely something that we’ve always had in mind through the making of the film,” Rupert Sanders, director of the new Crow movie, told Vanity Fair in February. “Brandon was an original voice and I think he will always be synonymous with The Crow, and I hope he’s proud of what we’ve done and how we’ve brought the story back again."
Lee's soul is "very much alive" in the new movie, Sanders said. "There’s a real fragility and beauty to his version of the Crow, and I think Bill feels like he is a successor to that.”
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