With Ghosts Season 2 winding down, Rose McIver took the time to revisit her experience making the hit CBS comedy thus far and discuss how Sam’s evolved from audition to set, and what could lie ahead for the character next season.
After gaining the ability to see the ghosts of people who died on her newly inherited property, Woodstone Mansion, Sam gets the opportunity to do two things she’s always dreamed of — have a family and make her loved ones happy. The thing is, sometimes Sam’s extreme do-gooder nature can compel her to cross certain lines and spark complications via her good intentions. The beauty of watching a character like Sam make such mistakes? She always learns, and that makes her an especially core for this unexpected family as the show moves along.
Rose McIver in GhostsImage via CBS
Early on in our conversation, McIver admitted that initially, she was a bit caught off guard by Sam’s willingness to lie when she first started digging into the role. Here’s how she put it:
“She can be more of a liar than I expected her to be, actually. It’s always with good intentions, I think, but she’s able to finagle things and cover things more to try to people-please. That part has been consistent. It’s always to try to keep somebody happy or make somebody like her, but there’s a little bit more of a willingness to tell stories than I thought she would. Which is good because Sam, in lots of ways, is such a do-gooder and she’s so helpful to so many people, and I like seeing that she has shortcomings that are really apparent, and watching them catch up with her.”
An example of a time when Sam’s shortcomings really caught up with her in Season 2? In Episode 16, “Isaac’s Book,” when Sam opts to lie about scoring a deal with a publisher in order to avoid devastating Isaac (Brandon Scott Jones). In true Ghosts fashion, the lie spins out of control to the point that it’s made public and Sam’s old journalism school friend (nemesis?), Isabel (Ilana Becker), finds out about it.
