CBS’sGhostshas solidified itself as one of television’s most charming sitcoms, providing a mix of heartfelt character-driven arcs and laugh-out-loud moments neatly wrapped in a supernatural package.
Based on the BBC series of the same name,Ghostsfollows a young couple who inherit an estate, only to discover it’s inhabited by a mismatched group of spirits from different eras. With its sharp comedy, clever writing, and ever-deepening emotion, the series continues to win over audiences as it moves toward its fifth season.
In the Collider Interview Studio atSan Diego Comic-Con,Perri Nemiroffcaught up withDanielle Pinnock,Utkarsh Ambudkar,Devan Chandler Long, andAsher Grodmanto discuss all thingsGhosts. The cast discuss their admiration for fellow castmateRose McIver’s performance last season, the upcoming showdown between Patience (Mary Holland) and Elias (Matt Walsh) and who their bets are on,dream storylines, and spin-off potential. They also dive into the upcoming seriesEternally Yoursand whether the vampires and ghosts are in the same universe, and what a crossover would look like between the two.
The ‘Ghosts’ Cast Reflect on Season 4’s Highlights From Awards to Stellar Performances
The cast agrees, one performer was a standout last season.
PERRI NEMIROFF: I couldn’t have asked for a better show to close out my San Diego Comic-Con. Welcome to the cast ofGhosts! I’m always so happy to see you all.
ASHER GRODMAN: You are the best interviewer in the business.
UTKARSH AMBUDKAR: By far.
DANIELLE PINNOCK: The best. We love you so much.
GRODMAN: We are so lucky to end with you.
My heart! Am I your last interview?
GRODMAN: I think so, or they haven’t told us. But it feels like after this, we’re done, because no one’s gonna top this.
I like that vibe. I am going to interrogate you about what could happen in Season 5, but I wanted to start with a question to play it safe and look back a little. It’s inspired by something we spoke about last year, Utkarsh. You inspired the question based on something you said on the panel. I love the good vibes among the ensemble and how you are all so, so supportive of each other. Can you each tell me something you saw a co-star do making Season 4 that made you stop and go, “That was incredible, and I’m so damn proud of you?”
AMBUDKAR: Mine’s easy. Mine is watching Rose [McIver] as Nancy. She was so funny and so locked in, and I couldn’t keep a straight face. That’s what’s been really fun about working with Rose. As she gets more comfortable with all of us and with comedy and improvising, she just gets better and better every season. And she has a heavy lift. She has a lot of stuff she needs to manage as an actor, so to see her be able to play and be spontaneous, as well, is such a joy, and she crushed that.
PINNOCK: She should have gotten an Emmy nomination for it.
AMBUDKAR: At least an NAACP nomination.
PINNOCK: [Laughs] I got that for all of us. Rose should have gotten an Emmy nomination for sure. It was a masterclass performance and I truly was in awe. Watching her live, I mean, it was unreal.
GRODMAN: I’m sorry to pile on this one, but I was shadowing the director on that episode, and there wasn’t a frame of that thing I didn’t see, and she was magnificent. She did it at the table read, I think, and we were all like, “Oh, my god, how are you making that sound?” And thenthere wasn’t a single moment that she lost it. It was just really incredible.
PINNOCK: That’s her training fromiZombie, too.
GRODMAN: And to be there and have Betsy [Sodaro] there on those days, I have videos of Betsy watching Rose, like a reflection of Betsy in the monitor watching Rose, and it’s just so gleeful. I don’t know how she did it.
DEVAN CHANDLER LONG: Let’s not forget that she had just had a baby, and she’s a new mom. For all the moms out there, we know how hard it is to be away from your kid. For her to show up as a professional, and being able to do what she does with all the lifting she does and have a kid that she obviously biologically desires to be with all the time, but to still show up and do this job, and then go back to being a mom, and then just balancing all that, it’s inspirational. I think we all saw that, and we were like, “Let’s rally around this.”
GRODMAN: God, that was the most sincere answer I’ve ever heard you give.
AMBUDKAR: Look at you with a real sound bite!
PINNOCK: The first sincere answerof the day.
Rose Mciver Explains Why Jay Meeting the Ghosts Is a Big Deal: “I Hope He Lords That Over Her in an Argument Down the Line”
Rose McIver appears on Collider Ladies Night to celebrate the ‘Ghosts’ Christmas special and to tease her TV directing debut.
I appreciate that. I feel like I should give you an opportunity to shout out a cut of steak next if you want.
GRODMAN: [Laughs]Nowhe speaks less.
PINNOCK: Here we go. There we go.
LONG: Cowboy cut.
PINNOCK: There we go. Tradition.
LONG: Any steak that’s not two inches thick isn’t steak. It’s beef jerky. Get out of my life.
That’s kind of a fair statement.
AMBUDKAR: Good job, Rose.
The ‘Ghosts’ Cast Share Their Dreams to Get Behind the Camera
“I think it would be amazing to be able to direct an episode because the crew and the cast are all supporting you.”
I want to follow up on something you said while answering, Asher, because you’ve said it, and Sheila [Carrasco] also mentioned having done it last season - that you are shadowing directors. Given the fact that Rose just directed an episode, do you want to direct an episode ofGhostsyourself?
GRODMAN: Oh, I would love to. It’s been a dream since Season 1. I will now have shadowed three times, and I’m doing one onDMVright now, which is also shooting next to us, a new CBS show. I would love to. I’ve had some amazing experiences outside the show directing. I wrote and directed this film starring an NFL team.
PINNOCK: Award-winning! Award-winning film.
GRODMAN: Yes, thank you. It won some awards. And so I would love to do more of it. And as a director, our show is so fun, especially knowing these guys and how they want to work.We’re a unique show because the costumes and the performances on the set, especially, do so much work. So, trying to honor all of that. I just have to shout out our set designer, Zoë Sakellaropoulo, and our whole crew in Montreal are brilliant. They get four days' notice to create a beach, and then they do it. The artistry is incredible.
“He’s Still Living a Pretty Full Life”: ‘Ghosts’ Star Asher Grodman Dishes on Trevor Becoming a Dad, Whether He Pays Taxes, and His “Colorful” Dynamic With Hetty
Grodman also reveals which artists he’d feature on at Trevor playlist and which prop he wants to take home.
A+ team. Across the board, I love it.
GRODMAN: A+ team.
AMBUDKAR: Our DP, Michel [St-Martin], is really special, too. The look that he creates every episode. Yeah, I think it would be amazing to be able to direct an episode because the crew and the cast are all supporting you. Sometimes you come into a show, you’re a new director, and everyone’s like, “What is this guy going to do?” But here it would be a unique opportunity to actually be supported and celebrated without any guff.
LONG: Shout out to the unsung heroes. I’ve been shattering some of the grips, and shit don’t get done unless …
There is truth there!
LONG: This director stuff, whatever. But grips.
PINNOCK: My dream in one of the seasons is to write something. Brandon [Scott Jones] and I have been talking about that, and I would love the opportunity to co-write with any one of our incredible writers. That would be a dream.
I always say this is a manifestation space.
PINNOCK: Come on!
Elias vs. Patience: Who Will Win in the Season 5 Showdown?
“I will always bet on Patience.”
I also want to speak into existence you telling me all the Season 5 secrets right now. I was in a mad dash to prepare. Youjustdid your panel, and I have so much new stuff to work with. One of the first things that I heard from that panel is that this season, we’re getting an Elias and Patience showdown.
GRODMAN:Wejust heard that.
Who are you placing your bets on?
PINNOCK: Patience.
AMBUDKAR: Elias.
LONG: Elias.
I need a why.
PINNOCK: Because remember, Patience has others. You know what I mean? It’s not just her. She has a community of… I’m putting it on Patience. I will always bet on Patience.
PINNOCK: Yeah, okay.
AMBUDKAR: I mean, he’s a freaking emissary to the devil.
PINNOCK: Okay, listen.
AMBUDKAR: He wears a cool suit.
PINNOCK: Listen.
LONG: She’s got a few people under a dirt hill.
PINNOCK: We don’t know who those people are! It could be the Avengers.
LONG: Elias has the entire underworld. He’s got all the worst people that ever existed.
PINNOCK: We haven’t met them yet!
AMBUDKAR: The answer is your guess is as good as ours, basically.
You predicting Elias feels like you are almost going against your own character’s chance of surviving.
AMBUDKAR: Wait, was Jay’s soul still in the balance here? This was in a different world.
LONG: This is post-Jay.
GRODMAN: Jay’s already gone at this point.
AMBUDKAR: Jay’s gone. Jay’s gone, dude.
AMBUDKAR: I’m going on aDMV, baby.
Season 5 Is Full of Relationships, Rivalries, and New Dynamics
“Everyone else can see that it’s a combustible dynamic that I think is going to go to a lot of fun places.”
Asher, I’ve got to touch on the relationship between Trevor and Hetty. I guess the first thing I have to ask you is, how do you think that they are stronger together, as powerfriendsor a power couple?
GRODMAN: I think this whole thing is a spectrum. Because where there is tension, there’s tension. And I just think in the long run,these two are meant to be competing and conniving and fighting and duking it out. It’s like this Sam and Diane on aggressive hierarchical steroids. They can call it whatever they want to call it, but everyone else can see that it’s a combustible dynamic that I think is going to go to a lot of fun places. I do think there’s a slow burn happening.
Assuming they grow closer, what do you think they each still stand to gain from one another, and maybe embracing that relationship further?
GRODMAN: Oh, they’re definitely better together. They feed their worst impulses, but he represents a kind of freedom that she never got to have, and I think for him, she brings out a competitive and, I don’t know, aggressive, playful side in him.
AMBUDKAR: She brings out the best in you, buddy.
GRODMAN: She brings out the best in me? I don’t know if it’s the best.
PINNOCK: I agree.
GRODMAN: I think she brings him home in many ways.
AMBUDKAR: You guys are going to have a threesome with a laundry machine.
GRODMAN: I think it’s also just so fun to work with Rebecca [Wisocky], and for us to get these scripts. We shoot fast, and to be able to find these colors and little Easter eggs in there is just such a pleasure, such a joy.
I’ve got one more question that came from the panel. I hear that Bela forms a connection with a ghost that isn’t Trevor. How do you think he’s going to feel? Do you think he’s going to be jealous?
GRODMAN: Oh, yeah. Absolutely.
AMBUDKAR: Who do you think it’s going to be?
GRODMAN: I don’t know. I’m trying to think. I think it’s Sass.
LONG: It’s gotta be Sass.
I wish I was in the room and I could have heard the tone of how this news was delivered so I know what kind of connection we’re talking about.
AMBUDKAR: I don’t think it’s Sass. Sass is booed up. Sass has got Joan. Who could it be? Not Thorfinn.
PINNOCK: It could be Thorfinn.
AMBUDKAR: [Gasps] Could it be Pete?
PINNOCK: It could be Pete.
GRODMAN: But it’s got to be someone that she can contact on some level.
LONG: That’s why it’s Sass, because he’ll hop in the dreams.
GRODMAN: That’s why I think it’s Sass. I think it’s a dream thing.
AMBUDKAR:Dang.
PINNOCK: Who knows? That was new to us, too.
AMBUDKAR: My sister just needs to chill. She’s doing too much.
I like the possibilities there. I’m team Sass in this respect here.
GRODMAN: Unless it’s not a main ghost, and we’ve got to think outside the box.
“That’s a Big Piece That We’re Still Missing”: ‘Ghosts’ Star Román Zaragoza Unpacks Sasappis Big Romance Arc and What He Wants From Season 5
Zaragoza also discusses Sasappis' relationships with Flower, Thor, and Hetty, expanding his ghost power, and wanting to direct an episode!
I want to go back to the Jay situation. Utkarsh, First, for the three of you, do you think your characters are eager to step up and help Jay against Elias, and if so, how will they contribute to saving him?
PINNOCK: Alberta wants to go to hell. I know that for sure. I want to see what this universe looks like. I’ve been saying this all day.
GRODMAN: Wait,Albertawants to go to hell, or Danielle?
PINNOCK: Yeah, Alberta would go to hell to save Jay’s soul. Also, she may go down there and do a couple of songs, too. Chumbawamba singing. She would be downstairs killing it on stage. I just believe that. Then she’d be like, “Alright, devil, let’s just help our friend out.” She would get it done.
I’m never going to unhear this. Even if it isn’t written into the show, I expect you to do it on your TikTok or something now.
PINNOCK: I would love it. Jay’s like her little nephew. You know what I mean? Sam is her niece. So, it’s like, hell yeah, she would go to hell and help him out.
GRODMAN: Yeah. I think we would all try to… Jay’s great. We love Jay. Also, without Jay, who’s going to be Michael Jackson? Trevor needs Jay.
AMBUDKAR: Everyone has very selfish reasons to keep Jay around.
GRODMAN: Whatever the reason, it’s going to be selfish.
How about for you, Devan? How’s Thor stepping up?
LONG: I think Thor’s got a chip on his shoulder. That’s why he saved Sass from the trap, and so he’s feeling pretty good about that. After the whole thing where he hid behind Alberta, I think he’s trying to redeem himself.I think he’s definitely looking to be more heroic, and really step up and try to look the part, be the part. Well, he looks the part, butbethe part, you know what I’m saying?
PINNOCK: Period.
I’m waiting for that moment!
Utkarsh, I love how when we were last talking about this, you described it asGhostsmeetsFinal Destination, which is just music to my ears. Given his life is constantly on the line, how do you think that’s going to change how Jay operates and carries himself in the new season?
AMBUDKAR: I think he’s going to be pretty tentative about walking through the world that he’s in. He’s going to lean on Sam and the ghosts for a lot of support. I think what I love about this show is when Jay, Sam, and the ghosts are all sort of galvanized against one common foe. So, for us to go on this mission together andhopefullydefeat Elias would be great. Apparently, Patience may be there. I don’t know. But I think he’s going to need everyone else to sort of step up for him.
LONG: You know how, in the middle of the night, when you’ve got to go take a piss, and you know there’s a bunch of LEGOs on the ground or something, but you don’t want to turn the lights on because you don’t want to wake anyone up, so you kind of shuffle your feet, and you’ve got one eye open? I think that’s what Jay is going to be doing. He’s going to be going through a lot of dark, LEGO-covered rooms.
AMBUDKAR: Don’t quotemeon that, but sure.
The amount of people who will very specifically relate to what you just said is blowing my mind right now …
LONG: Because you know,you know, there’s going to be that LEGO. It’s going to get you.
Danielle Pinnock Says Alberta Will Be “Both an Excellent and Terrible Girlfriend” for Pete
And Jay’s ghost notes maybe aren’t the most secure …
Utkarsh, I have to credit my colleague Sam with this question. I’m surprised I hadn’t thought of this, and now I’m obsessed with the idea. Jay’s ghost notes, does he keep them in a notes app on his phone? Does he have a physical notebook? If so, what does it look like?
AMBUDKAR: I think it’s a notes app on his phone. Jay is very tech-savvy. Also, it may have started as a notebook, but now, four years in of having to basically sit in a quiet room while his wife talks to the wall, I think he’s sort of given in to his phone as his best friend, for better or worse. Obviously, Sam’s his best friend, but his phone is a strong number two. I think it’s probably a notes app on the phone, which he then maybe iClouds to his laptop
PINNOCK: Google Docs, for sure. I think Google Docs.
AMBUDKAR: Google Docs? Oh, you think it’s a spreadsheet? It could be a spreadsheet.
PINNOCK: It’s a lot of history.
AMBUDKAR: I just want to know what’s up with that vault and why ghosts can’t get through it.
I feel like it’s a great storyline to have him accidentally share these notes on the Cloud. But also, initially, when I saw that question, I pictured his notebook almost like a cookbook.
AMBUDKAR: Well, you saw how intricately he built Alberta’s murder wall. If that’s any indication of what this guy is capable of, you give him some yarn and some photographs, he’s gonna go in.
I’m into it. I want a copy of this book if it ever comes out.
AMBUDKAR: Hey, Penguin!
PINNOCK: Come on, yarn. JOANNs, we love you.
Danielle, I have to go back to what we were talking aboutlast nightwhen we brought up the Alberta and Pete situation. We specifically talked about it as the two of them being a pair. Sometimes, when I watch shows and films where a character is heavily into a new relationship, I find that they’re wholly defined by it, so I kind of want to look at the other side now. How do you think she needs to grow as an individual in Season 5, maybe even to be a better partner to him?
PINNOCK: Alberta is selfish, and I think that’s one of my favorite things about playing her, because I, as a person, would give my last to anyone. The other thing I will say is I’m really grateful to Joe Port and Joe Wisemen, and all of our writers, for seeing me, as a plus-sized Black woman, as a romantic lead. That’s something I’ve never played in my career. I got these occupationally-driven roles, like a nurse that has two lines or a librarian that was like, “Hey, you want the books?” So, to have this character has been a dream come true, and I cannot wait to delve into all of the shenanigans with Alberta and Pete.I just know that she’s going to be both an excellent and terrible girlfriend. I just believe that Alberta is going to be a hot mess, and they’re going to drive each other crazy. I can’t wait to see what the sleeping arrangement is going to be . I’m just so excited to delve into this with Richard Moriarty. I think he’s excellent.
LONG: Who’s big spoon and little spoon?
PINNOCK: Oh, for sure, Alberta’s big spoon,withoutquestion. And with all that crushed velvet? Are you kidding? It’s gonna gethot! I just can’t wait. One of the things that Joe Port and Joe Wiseman said to me before the season started was, “You really get to learn about a person when they get into a relationship.” So, one of the fun things I thought about last season was Alberta said, “Y’all think my name really is Alberta?” And I was like, “What?” So I’m like, “Who is this woman?” So, I can’t wait to just uncover the mystery of her.
All the Reveals From ‘Peacemaker,’ ‘Wicked: For Good’ & ‘Ghosts’ That Collider Ladies Night Brought to SDCC 2025
Danielle Brooks, Jennifer Holland, Danielle Pinnock and Marissa Bode also revisited pivotal moments from their journeys thus far as actors.
Thorfinn Is the Key to the Unexplored History of Woodstone
“There were 500 years of history. It’s like the Dark Ages. Let’s have a look at that.”
Devan, I love this thought, too, and I was told you brought this up on the panel. Thor’s the only one who really knows the full history of Woodstone and the property. Will Season 5 maybe finally see Thorfinn seize the potential that that knowledge gives him?
LONG: No. That’s not gonna happen.
AMBUDKAR: One would hope!
PINNOCK: We don’t know, though.
LONG: Thor’s been around for thousands of years. There were 500 years before Thor met Sass. We just don’t go there.
AMBUDKAR: We should go there.
LONG: We should go there! Was Thor talking to a rock for 400 years? We know there was a squirrel…
AMBUDKAR: You ate him!
LONG: We heard about all this stuff, but it’s like, what happened? Hey man, whatever it’ll be, it’ll be. But I doubt it.
If you had the power of the pen, so to speak, is there any particular part of his past on the property that you would most want to explore and apply to their current situation?
LONG: The 500 years before he met Sass. How many other ghosts were there? What was going on? We know that he wasn’t alone. There were 500 years of history. It’s like the Dark Ages. Let’s have a look at that. Maybe some of those ghosts are still around. There’s a lot to be explored.
GRODMAN: It feels like an untapped superpower of this show where we tell the stories that we tell in the house in modern day, and we tell the stories of the flashbacks to these characters' lives. But the flashbacks of what has happened on this plot of land and what the relationship has been between these ghosts, there could have been a period where the ghosts were in two factions, and they hated each other, and then somehow peace reigned over the house. There are so many things you could do that are likeStar Warsprequel kind of things that are so fun. It’s an amazing concept.
Could ‘Ghosts’ Crossover With ‘Eternally Yours’?
Do ghostsandvampires exist in this universe?
That kind of tees up one of my last questions. We know the Joes just had another series green lit,Eternally Yours.Just in case anybody out there doesn’t know, it follows two vampires who have been together for 500 years. They have a show with ghosts. They’re making a show with vampires. Do you think that they are in the same reality? Do vampires and ghosts exist together in this world?
AMBUDKAR: I hope so.
PINNOCK: Yeah! Gosh.
LONG: That’d be great.
AMBUDKAR: That’d be so exciting if these guys can make their own little universe. That would be amazing.
GRODMAN: I think in a lot of art, like, we hear a lot that fans love that this show is like a warm hug kind of feeling. But I think also the world-building really excites fans. Even the panel just now, like the questions that came up, I think there’s a really rich world, and so adding to it with that, my god.
PINNOCK: A vampire would be incredible.
AMBUDKAR: It could be super fun. I mean, with 22 minutes and an emphasis on comedy, right? We want pace and we want humor. It takes time to build out the world, right? Because there’s not a lot of backstory you can fit in if you’re trying to make your audience laugh and stuff like that. But the good news is we have two seasons now to really dive into some of this stuff.
Well deserved, too!
I was about to ask you all how you think your characters would react if they saw a vampire, but then my mind started to go down the path of, who would be able to interact with vampires? Would a vampire be able to interact with both the living and the dead?
GRODMAN: I would think so. Technically, they are… Well, they areundead.
It could add a really nice wrinkle, I’m just saying.
PINNOCK: I think a vampire would probably end up becoming Alberta’s boo or something. I think she’d probably try to date him, for sure.
I could see that.
PINNOCK: She would take a piece of garlic and be like, “Alright, let’s get to it.” I believe that for sure.
GRODMAN: I don’t think there’s a ghost in the house who wouldn’tlovea vampire.
PINNOCK: Yeah, a vampire will be fabulous.
GRODMAN: They’d think it was the coolest thing in the world, including Jay.
AMBUDKAR: Oh, I would be first in line.
I’m into all the ideas.
LONG: I’m sorry. I’m lost. I’m trying to do the math on how many actual minutes we’ve had together. 72 episodes times 22 minutes.
AMBUDKAR: I think it’s like 68.
PINNOCK: Work it out.
GRODMAN: I think it’s like 19.
LONG: 1,400?
AMBUDKAR: Don’t ask me.
PINNOCK: Carry the one. Times five.
I talk about movies and TV shows. I don’t do math.
LONG: 1,584 minutes of showtime. Alright!
Of joy! Of pure joy.
PINNOCK: We’re very lucky, and we’re very lucky to our fans that we’re coming back for Seasons 5 and 6. It’s a dream.
Truly, what you said is what I say to everybody all the time. This show feels like a warm hug. It puts a smile on my face faster than any other show on TV right now. I’m gonna say a huge thank you for your time today and for the show in general. Rooting for you, and sending all the good vibes for Season 5.
AMBUDKAR: Right back at you. We always love seeing you.
PINNOCK: Thank you so much. You are the best. We love you so much.
