See the cast of 'Ghosts' experience their characters' history at the Library of Congress
The snarky spirits who inhabit CBS comedy “Ghosts” are appreciated not only for their silly antics and sometimes-wise observations, but also for their distinctive characterizations.
The motley crew inhabiting the fictional Woodstone Mansion in the series (Thursdays, 8:30 p.m. EDT/PDT, and streaming on Paramount+) span centuries, from the 1020s (strapping Viking Thorfinn) to the late-1990s (handsome Wall Street bro Trevor).
Given their diverse histories, it seemed fitting for the Library of Congress in Washington to dig into the ghosts’ backgrounds. Earlier this week, five of the eight “ghosts” – or, more precisely, their human actors – toured the historical building and were shown artifacts from the time period of their respective otherworldly alter egos.
“We saw, to a surprising degree, issues we are talking about today that are reflected in writing 100, 200, a thousand years ago,” said Asher Grodman (Trevor).
“It’s almost like you coined the phrase, ‘history repeats itself,’” responded Rebecca Wisocky (Hetty) with a laugh and comfortable arm squeeze of her co-star.
History presented itself in the form of maps, sheet music, manuscripts and audio recordings curated for Wisocky, Grodman, Richie Moriarty (Pete), Danielle Pinnock (Alberta) and Román Zaragoza (Sasappis). (Missing were Brandon Scott Jones (Isaac), Devan Chandler Long (Thorfinn) and Sheila Carrasco (the currently-MIA Flower).
Here is what they had to say about how seeing the items affected their view of the supernatural.
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Rebecca Wisocky (Hetty, late-1800s)
Some historical artifacts: “A Repository of Fashion, Pleasure and Instruction” (Harper’s Bazaar, Feb. 21, 1874); “The Curse of Cocaine is Spreading in New York” (New York Journal, Jan. 10, 1897); “The Perils of Child Labor” (Journal of the American Economic Association, March 1890).
“What is so fun about my character is she gets it all wrong so often,” says Wisocky. “You can watch her and believe she’s a feminist and realize through Alberta (a 1920s ghost) that all right, women should have the right to vote. But then, as it was in her time, she still hates the Irish.”
Asher Grodman (Trevor, 1990s)
Some historical artifacts: A 1994 map of downtown Manhattan; “The Soaring ‘90s” and “Goodbye, Golden Decade. Now What Will the ‘00s Bring?” (Wall Street Journal, Oct. 13, 1999); “2000 and Counting” (USA TODAY, Dec. 31, 1999); Brokerage Firm Safety Directory (May 1995).
“I was a kid during the (Wall Street) era, so it doesn’t feel like history for me. All of the cool kids were part of it and I was watching,” Grodman says. “But we’re looking at these (ghosts) from a modern-day perspective. I don’t think any of these characters are idiots, but it’s easy to fall into the thinking of, ‘they did dumb things back then.’ But some things, like Blockbuster, they’re businesses that are gone, but they were doing really, really, really well at the time.”
Danielle Pinnock (Alberta, 1920-30s)
Some historical artifacts: Copyright deposit from Scott Joplin’s opera “Treemonisha” (May 19, 1911); typescript memoir of “Happy in Hell” by Noble Lee Sissle about the formation of the 369th Infantry Band, aka “Harlem Hellfighters” (undated); lead sheet of “Blind Man’s Bluff,” the earliest known song from Edward “Duke” Ellington (1923).
“Seeing all of that sheet music today, I was like, I want to get on the piano and play it immediately,” says Pinnock. “To also learn there was a jazz singer famous during that time, Alberta Hunter, which I think is where my character comes from as well, and find out she was best friends with Langston Hughes … The 1920s was such a beautiful time for Black artistry. So vivid and brave.”
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Román Zaragoza (Sasappis, 1600s)
Some historical artifacts: An 1852 reprint of a 1656 map of the New York and New Jersey area, Van Der Donck’s map of New Netherland (1656); account of the first contact between the Lenape and Europeans (“The Voyages of Giovanni de Verrazzano," 1524-28); Indian land grants record (1726-71).
“The word I keep coming back to, seeing all of this, is emotional. Seeing what New York looked like before the Dutch got there and what it looked life afterward and to have our curator, who is Munsee, talk about her family, it felt so real, not like a textbook,” says Zaragoza. “When we finished I was like, whoo, it’s heavy. Emotional, but beautiful.”
Richie Moriarty (Pete, 1970s/1980s)
Some historical artifacts: “Archery Safety” from The Boy Scouts of America merit badge pamphlet (1978); “Ant Watching” (T.C. Schneirla, 1971); "Dungeons & Dragons comics (1988, 1990).
“They took some fun creative license and it was so evident how much effort they put into curating things for our characters, like Pete’s love of comics” Moriarty says, “Even from a specific episode: Pete had a weird storyline and was watching ants, so they found a book about ant watching.”