While McIver didn’t reveal which of her co-stars have eyes on the director’s chair, she went on to say, “Several of our cast now have been shadowing and expressed interest in that. So, I hope that they’re able to pursue that, and down the line, we could see things from them too.” With Ghost recently scoring a two-season renewal, it would be a delight to see any of the show’s multi-talented cast get behind the camera for an episode.
“Ghostfellas,” the latest episode of the CBS comedy series Ghosts, marks the directorial debut of the show’s leading lady, Rose McIver. A career goal many years in the making, McIver’s turn behind the camera was fantastic, as she and the rest of the cast and crew delivered a laugh-out-loud funny episode with twists galore. I sat down with McIver recently to discuss her episode and, as a big fan of cast-helmed episodes, I had to ask if she’d given any of her co-stars the directing bug. “Yes. Thank you. Great question,” said McIver. “A lot of my costars, some of them [are] wanting to direct and some of them [are] just wanting to shadow, at least initially, to understand more about the process.”
McIver went on to explain what a wonderful learning experience directing can be for an actor, saying:
“I can’t speak highly enough about the value for an actor of understanding the immense amount of work that goes into making an episode of television, from people whose names you don’t know. People figuring out the location availability, and doing the accounts, and checking the copyright on the way that a ticket is printed and the just enormous mound of work that has already been built before we arrive on set and we pick up our lines. It’s a real feat. And it’s awesome to be able to connect with those people. I think it makes actors better. It makes actors more communicative and understanding of why things may look a certain way at the moment that they arrive on set. And I think the same for the post-production process. So, you know, seeing in the edit what works, what doesn’t, how choices that you make do or don’t impact the overall rhythm of a scene. I think that it’s a valuable thing for people to do.”
Asher Grodman (Trevor) has expressed interest in directing, having recently won a Tribeca X award for his short film, and Román Zaragoza (Sass) has been capturing stunning behind-the-scenes shots since the show’s inception. When I spoke with Rebecca Wisocky (Hetty) earlier this season, she didn’t rule out the possibility of directing a future episode, saying, “We’ll see. I enjoy directing actors very, very much. I enjoy dramaturgy and scene work, and I’m asked to do that a lot for friends and colleagues, and that scratches my directing itch for now.”
New episodes of Ghosts air on CBS every Thursday at 8:30 PM ET. You can watch previous episodes on Paramount+. Stay tuned at Collider for more from our conversation with McIver.
