Trekkies will undoubtedly have a hard time imagining anyone other than Avery Brooks portraying Benjamin Sisko. However, as it turns out, an actor from another beloved franchise very nearly took the lead on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Ernie Hudson, who portrayed Winston Zeddemore in the Ghostbusters films auditioned for the part of Captain Sisko, but he didn’t really put his best foot forward. The actor made the revelation while doing a hilarious interview for Bleeding Cool. Hudson said:
“I auditioned for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. When they told me [laughs] that they were thinking about going with a black captain, this was back in the day, I thought, 'They're not going to make the captain the black guy.' They told me they wanted me to come in, so I went into the audition, and I read. I thought I did a good reading, and they liked me, then they wanted me to come back the next day.”
Hudson, who first portrayed Winston in the original Ghostbusters (1984) and then later in its sequels (Ghostbusters II, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire) continued his story during the same sit-down by saying:
"They told me to 'make him sexier,' and now I don't know how to do that. I don't know what that means, so I went to the meeting, and I did an Elvis [Presley] thing, and it was ridiculous. Halfway through my reading, they said, 'Thank you. That's enough,' so I didn't get the role, but I've always been a fan of Star Trek, Star Wars, and all those things, but hadn't been asked to be in them for whatever reason. I suppose there are still possibilities, but yeah.”
In the grand scheme of things, Trekkies ended up with the fan-favorite Captain Sisko they deserved. Meanwhile, the faithful followers who aren’t afraid of no ghosts got the no-nonsense Winston Zeddemore when he joined the squad as the fourth member over 40 years. Winston helped round out the Ghostbusters — and aided in grounding the rest of the team, particularly the outlandish behavior of Peter Venkman (Bill Murray).
Trekkies, could you see Ernie Hudson taking up the mantle of Captain Sisko? Or is there no one who could ever take the place of Avery Brooks? I’m sure the majority of fans will lean into the latter, because of the brilliant job Brooks did portraying the character. However, visit the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages to share your thoughts and comments on the matter.