The Family Business - Ernie Hudson & Valarie Pettiford Interview

There’s a new family in town - and they mean business! Based on the New York Times best-selling series of novels, actor and Executive Producer Ernie Hudson and Tony® Nominated Actress Valarie Pettiford  can currently be seen in, Carl Weber's The Family Business on BET.

The series is based on Carl Weber’s popular crime drama. Carl Weber's The Family Business follows the Duncans, a prominent family from Jamaica, Queens living fast and luxurious. By day, they’re an upstanding family; by night, they live a dangerous secret life. The patriarch of the family, L.C. Duncan (Hudson), is at the age when he’s starting to think about retirement and has to decide which of his children should take over his thriving exotic car dealership. The Duncans quickly come under siege from some of the top politicians, mafia and drug cartels in the city. The Duncans will have to stick together or die separately. 

At 72, Ernie Hudson is as busy as ever still finding ways to challenge himself. The veteran actor stands at the forefront of BET drama The Family Business playing the Sopranos-esque patriarch L.C. Duncan AND serves as the show’s executive producer.

Ernie Hudson is a character actor perhaps best known for his roles as Winston Zeddemore in the Ghostbusters film series, Sergeant Darryl Albrecht in The Crow, and Warden Leo Glynn on HBO’s Oz. We also recently saw him play Jacob opposite Lily Tomlin in the hit Netflix series, Grace and Frankie.

Valarie Pettiford is a stage and television actress, dancer, and jazz singer. She received a Tony® nomination for her role in the Broadway production of Fosse. She is also known for her role as "Big Dee Dee" Thorne on the sitcom Half & Half.In Carl Weber's The Family Business she plays Charlotte “Chippy” Duncan, the Duncan family matriarch who keeps the family together no matter the challenges. 

I had the opportunity to chat with stars Ernie Hudson and Valarie Pettiford via satellite from L.A. about working on this show and what else they have going on these days.

Check out our interview below.

The Family Business airs Tuesdays, 9/8c, BET