*Ernie Hudson is speaking out about his connection to the disabled community while promoting his new role in Bobby Farrelly’s “Champions,” a movie about a Special Olympics team.
Directed by Javier Fesser, the film is Hollywood’s adaptation of the award-winning Spanish film “Campeones,” and features actors with intellectual disabilities. As Deadline reports, Spain’s Aderes Special Olympics team won twelve Spanish championships between 1999 and 2014, which was the inspiration for the original Spanish film.
The American film adaptation reportedly follows a pompous basketball coach who is forced to lead a team with disabilities as community service.
“I had [a] friend with a daughter who had disability issues and they put her in a home when she was two or three years old,” Hudson recalled in an interview with Yahoo Entertainment. “There was a way of trying to hide [disabled] people when I was growing up. So when I read the script for Champions, I loved the fact that it showed this community. These young actors in the movie are amazing, and I hope it opens the door to them getting more work.”
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Hudson is part of the main cast in the film which includes stars Woody Harrelson, Kaitlin Olson, Cheech Marin, and Matt Cook. Per Collider, the group of actors with intellectual disabilities featured in “Champions” includes Madison Tevlin, Joshua Felder, Kevin Iannucci, Ashton Gunning, Matthew Von Der Ahe, Tom Sinclair, James Day Keith, Alex Hintz, Casey Metcalfe, Bradley Edens, and Champ Pederson.
Hudson, famously known for his role in the original “Ghostbusters” movie, also stars on the BET series “Carl Weber’s The Family Business.”
“Doing network TV can be a big commitment,” said Hudson who has starred in several primetime shows including the current reboot of “Quantum Leap.”
“At this stage in the game for me, it’s always about asking, ‘Do I want to sign up for something if I’m not going to enjoy it?,’” he said. “I want to like the people I’m working with and I want to enjoy the location. Quantum Leap is a really fun group of people who make it fun to go to work.”
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