‘Ghosts’ star Rose McIver in the Christmas episode and her directorial debut
There’s a moment in the Christmas-themed film “Ghosts” on Thursday night when the body of Rose McIver’s character, Sam, is suddenly inhabited by the impudent basement cholera spirit Nancy (Betsy Sodaro). “Ghosts” requires its stars to engage in all sorts of shenanigans on a weekly basis — in this case, McIver was tasked with imitating Sodaro in the role of Nancy.
“I adore Betsy so much,” McIver tells Variety. “I adore her as a person, as an actress. I’m a huge fan. So I felt very honored to be able to mentor young Nancy, and to be so generously expected to work with her.”
McIver says Sodaro helped her prepare by sharing videos teaching how to play Nancy as a loud, inappropriate, and exaggerated ghost. “I put up these videos of her saying her dialogue and showing me how she would act,” McIver says. “She was like, ‘I feel like I’m auditioning to play myself.’ ” “That doesn’t seem quite right,” and then, I was able to go behind the screens and brainstorm some ideas as well. She was a great character to get into. She built something so funny and so specific that there were nice tangible things to pin my work on.
In Parts 1 and 2 of A Very Arondekar Christmas, Jai’s parents Mahesh (Bernard White) and Champa (Sakina Jaffrey) visit the B&B for the first time, and they don’t like it. Sam has always been desperate to gain Champa’s respect by at least adding him to the script of the family group. When Nancy climbs into Sam’s body, it seems like certain disaster – but to everyone’s surprise, Champa actually begins to bond with her.
“Of all the personalities you have, having Nancy when you’re trying to make a good impression on your in-laws is definitely a roll of the dice,” McIver says.
Indeed, Nancy Sam does not win over Ciampa for long, as her off-putting behavior remains disgusting. But by the end of the episodes, the real Sam has managed to earn some new respect from Ciampa, and a place in the sexting chain.
Sakina Jaffrey as Champa, Rebecca Wysocki as Hetty, Bernard White as Mahesh, Brandon Scott Jones as Isaac, and Daniel Pinnock as Alberta, in “Ghosts” (Bertrand Calmo/CBS)
CBS
“It’s the best Christmas gift you could ever ask for,” McIver says. “I mean Sakina is unbelievable. She’s so funny and so easy and easy and she’s the perfect choice for Champa. You can totally see why Sam wanted so badly to be liked. There was a little bit of life imitating art during the shoot, and I’m a big Sakina fan too.”
“A Very Arondekar Christmas” is also a landmark moment for Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar), who has his own out-of-body experience when Pete (Richie Moriarty) takes over. Jay is completely expelled from his body, temporarily placing him in Ghost Land – where he interacts with all of the show’s ghosts for the first time.
“It’s huge,” McIver says. “I’m so glad we got to this place, and it was a really innovative way to find him. This was a technical achievement. Utkarsh and Richie Keane, who directed us, did a really great job, and Richie Moriarty in navigating between the three different versions of Jay, and the actual practicality of filming the ones in On set when you had all these situations and visual effects, it was really impressive.
“And story wise, these people that Jay has built a relationship with Sight Invisible over the past few years, finally culminate in this incredibly exciting moment where he gets to see how similar they are to what he expects, and where the differences are and embrace them,” she adds. “He was now one step ahead of Sam, as he was able to make physical contact with the ghosts and she did not. It feels like a real historical episode for us as a series.
Speaking of historic moments, McIver just directed her first-ever television episode, which will air this season on “Ghosts.” Its episode (the thirteenth of Season 4) airs later this winter, and focuses on Pete’s backstory.
“I will always be forever grateful that this show has now given me my first opportunity to direct in television,” she says. “This was something I really wanted to do and I’m really proud of it. I was bitten by the bug, so to speak. This is all I want to do and it’s hard to come back from the director’s seat. I had a great time.”
McIver says what has helped her is that “Ghosts” is now a well-oiled machine, and she is familiar with the series, its style and its characters. “It’s an incredible honor to spend four years with people, developing shorthand, and really understanding people’s strengths and weaknesses,” she says. “It allows you to get through some niceties quickly, and I was able to cut to the chase. Everyone was really patient and supportive, and kind of indulged in my creative choices. I hope I don’t mess it up that badly.”
McIver says she’s been laying the groundwork for directing for some time; When she starred in the CW’s “iZombie” show, she participated in a directing workshop at Warner Bros.
“Now that I have that opportunity like a dog with a bone, I don’t want to waste it,” she says. “We’ll see how easy or difficult this path is going to be, but I’ve definitely got a great starting point. I’m so grateful to CBS, the showrunners, and everyone for letting me do this.”