The conceit of a married couple moving into a dilapidated house only to discover they have roomies of the supernatural kind has been explored in numerous comedy TV shows like Shining Vale. Ghosts, on CBS, is a welcome addition to the comedic ghost favourites folder. The ghosts however, aren’t hellbent on scaring the living daylights out their uninvited guests because they are a colourful bunch squabbling among themselves. The guests are Samantha (Rose McIver) and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) and all they want is a successful B&B free of ghostly interruptions and lots of five star reviews.
The ghost of prohibition era lounge singer Alberta Haynes is one of the sassier, more rambunctious ghosts played by Danielle Pinnock (This Is Us, Young Sheldon) who comes from a rich history of stand-up comedy and theater. Pinnock spoke with Creative Screenwriting Magazine about infusing her comedic instincts to create her role beyond the page.
We kicked off our conversation by asking Danielle what attracted her to the role of Alberta. “I think the thing that attracted me most to the role is that as a plus-sized black woman, I’d gotten a lot of roles that were occupationally driven. It was the sassy nurse, the disgruntled truck driver, the sad librarian.” Alberta Haynes wasn’t any those things. She is quirky and fun. Such roles is catnip for actors wanting to expand their acting repertoire and move beyond a small set of roles.
Danielle Pinnock is also a devoted fan of the original UK version of Ghosts which inspired the US version. Furthermore, Alberta’s character did not appear in the original version, so Danielle Pinnock had plenty of room to fully realize her original character. “Alberta is a ghost that came from the 1920s that died in the Woodstone mansion. She was a jazz singer and the 1920s for black people was such a phenomenal time during the Harlem Renaissance. So much art came out of that period and that was really of interest for me because I wasn’t going to play this stereotypical black character.”
Aside from being a series regular, Danielle had to consider how to play her role before reading her first script. “I just thought about a lot of the larger than life characters, not only in my personal life, but mentors and celebrities who were my North Star when I first came to Los Angeles.”
“Jennifer Lewis is a great inspiration that I pull from. She can do it all. She is an incredible singer. She is a phenomenal writer and master class performer. Whoopi Goldberg is another character that I pull from. Another multi-hyphenate. And I would also have to say, the last person is my grandmother. She is boisterous and the mother hen of our house. You know when she always makes an entrance. And the thing about my grandmother is that she’s always so fabulous. Regardless of what her situation is, she’s gonna look good.”
Alberta’s fabulousness and diva persona really was a facade for the vulnerable artists that Ghosts will explore.
Pinnock “tore” through the UK version of Ghosts. She noted how “dark” British shows can be, some of which cascaded into the American version. She also honed her craft at the Royal Conservatory in Birmingham, (UK not Alabama) so she was exposed to British acting sensibilities. Furthermore, the US has a track record of successfully remaking British shows like The Office and Shameless. In each case, the shows weren’t simply going to be remade with American actors. The originals were a starting point and they had to stand on their own.
The actress is also a huge fan of CBS comedies. She describes them as “fun for the whole family.” She cherishes her four years on Young Sheldon, but she applauds their decision to address issues with more serious issues like death and grief, albeit in a comedic way.
Ghosts is helmed by show runners Joe Port and Joe Wiseman (New Girl, Me, Myself, and I). The writers’ room is also incredibly diverse. “The diverse writers can dive into the specificity for a lot of the characters of color and the other writers can lean on them too. They’re very open about hearing whatever they don’t know and getting into the nitty gritty of it.”
The research for Ghosts had to serve the character goals and themes from vastly different time periods. Suffice to say that America has a prickly historical relationship with race. Pinnock is grateful that the show runners and CBS didn’t shy away from it. “And usually, it’ll be put in jokes,” adds Pinnock. The issue of race is deeply explored in season two of Ghosts with the indigenous character Sasappis played by Román Zaragoza.
Bringing Alberta Haynes to Life
“I wanted to fully immerse myself in everything in the 1920s. I’m a theater girl through and through, so dramaturgy was a huge part of creating this character. I wanted to know what would her financial history be in the 1920s as an artist. Who would her friends be? Would she be hanging out with Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey, or would they be rivals?”
Danielle Pinnock, not only researched what Alberta’s outfits might be like, but whether she would make them alone or with her sister.
Alberta Haynes (Danielle Pinnock)
“I did a deep dive on the artistry of what it was like to be a jazz singer during that time, but also, what it was like being a black woman when there was heavy segregation and race riots.”
Danielle also notes that the black character in the UK version of Ghosts was completely different. She was bubbly and always laughing. As the seasons advanced, audiences eventually found out why she was like that.
The 1920s Prohibition Era in America is well-documented. “You know that people are gonna be singing, sexually free, and larger than life. They probably had some escapades with some bootleggers and the life was wild.”
I wanted to make sure that with the facade of all this fabulousness, we did see these vulnerable shades of Alberta as well. We see her in romantic situations with our Cubs Scout leader, Pete Martino (Richie Moriarty).
The style of comedy in Ghosts is more nuanced than designed for belly laughs. Some of the gags leave the viewer uncomfortable, nervous, and even confused as to whether they’re supposed to laugh or not. The show harnesses the importance of using comedy to discuss uncomfortable ideas. “I like to say that life is already dramatic as it is. So we need to laugh,” elaborates Pinnock.
When the actress interprets scripts, it’s important that the writers’ intention is on the page so the actors have an idea of how best to deliver the dialog. “When we get the text, we play it as though it is for real. We play those given circumstances, but how it’s written is where the laughs come from by what choices we eventually end up making. Sometimes when you see something on the page, we can turn that thing into drama easily,” claims Pinnock.
Pinnock cites a moment in season one in Ghosts where we find out why Alberta wants to become famous. “She’s always wanted to make her family proud and that’s why she’s been in this plight for a while.” When Alberta realizes that the act of going viral makes her famous, she breaks into song, “My daddy would be proud because I’m famous.” This is a very tender, vulnerable, and revealing moment. Alberta could have played it straight, as a drama, or as a comedy.
When an actor first reads a script, she examines the characters, their motivations, their goals, and their relationships with the other characters. Part of Danielle Pinnock’s process of interpreting her character was the cultural specificity and accuracy of each scene.
The actress quotes a cold open from an episode when Alberta’s niece Alicia (Ashley D. Kelley) comes to visit. The original script didn’t get any laughs. Showrunners Joe Port and Joe Wiseman suggested a few improv moments to inject a few laughs. In order to invigorate the scene, they asked what her greatest want and need are and frame them into something culturally accurate. This also applied to Alberta. “She’s a 1920s loudmouth so we can have her wanting more even in death. This is the first time that she’s had a family member show up at the B&B in over 100 years and she’s excited.”
Alberta is in search of information regarding her descendants. If there’s a niece, there must be an aunt and an uncle in the backstory. She can ask questions regarding their habits and quirks which will inform these characters. “And her greatest want with her niece coming in was the fact that Alberta always wanted to be a parent, but never could because she died too young. Now that’s something I can play. And that’s something that can inform seasons to come, because Alicia is basically Alberta’s daughter now. And Alicia has grandkids.”
Actors are given some leeway to ad lib lines of dialog on set and Pinnock was delighted that Alberta had some solid stakes to drive her character into unwritten episodes.
During the cast interactions with the showrunners, the actors were invited into the writers’ room and share their research to ensure the way they saw their characters aligned with theirs. They also added any fun facts that might find their way into future episodes.
Pinnock continued that outside the writers’ room, the crew was the next filter of the comedic tonality of Ghosts. If the crew didn’t laugh, the dialogue would be reconsidered. The directors would also help to shape the tone on set.
Consider the musicality of each scene
The cast of Ghosts has a comedic background, whether that is UCB, Groundlings or Second City, so they know how to execute a line with a wide range – laughs or tears. They intuitively recognize when the delivery is off. Rebecca Wisocky who plays Hetty Woodstone, calls it the “musicality of the scene.” An improv background allows the actors to play off each other.
TV writers’ argue that every script should contain enough information without excessive use of parentheticals, to enable actors to understand the writer’s intention while giving them enough freedom to experiment. Pinnock looks at the emotionality of the scene for answers. Where is the character at now and where do they want to go? This creates space for a character to go off-script if necessary. There is always one take for safety and several more for discovery.
The ghosts are also engaged in their own housemate shenanigans each with their own backstory. Imagine if the cast of Friends were ghosts? Thorfinn (Devan Chandler Long) needs to stop telling cod stories, Alberta needs to find out if she died from a heart attack or was murdered, and Captain Isaac Higgintoot (Brandon Scott Jones) wants his Revolutionary War credit which has been given to Alexander Hamilton, Trevor Lefkowitz (Asher Grodman) the womanizing, partying investor, and Susan Montero/Flower (Sheila Carrasco) the hippy need to find peace.
“Alberta is so self-centered that she sees herself as having the highest status in the house because of how fabulous she thinks she is. I think her and Isaac, they are toxic besties. They get on each other’s nerves, but they love solving crimes. They love getting into to everybody’s mess.”
