Ghosts’ Rose McIver Talks Her Pete-Centric Directorial Debut, Teases ‘Major Hurdles’ for Sam and Jay
Warning: The following contains spoilers for Thursday’s Ghosts. Proceed at your own risk!
This week’s Ghosts brought about a big realization for Pete and marked a major milestone for series star Rose McIver.
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The actress made her directorial debut with the episode, titled “Ghostsfellas,” which revealed that the travel agency Pete worked for was actually a front for his mobster in-laws, and he was the only one in the dark about it. And the head of that mafia clan, Anthony, was none too happy to find that Jay (courtesy of Pete) was using his family’s arrabbiata sauce recipe at his new restaurant. Sam and Jay were able to get Anthony off their backs, eventually, after Carol helped them uncover his sketchy books. Meanwhile, Sam helped Pete realize that even though the travel agency was hiding bad dealings, the joy he brought his clients was very real.
And although Jay and Sam’s newbie restaurant is now enjoying some success, the troubles are far from over for Mahesh.
“As I’m sure you can imagine, it is not a smooth course for very long,” McIver tells TVLine with a laugh. “There’s definitely some pretty major hurdles that come up, particularly towards the end of the season. The success of the restaurant may come at a cost, and we learn a lot more about that.”
Below, the actress talks about the joys of directing her co-star Richie Moriarty (aka Pete), how Goodfellas inspired her and much more.
TVLINE | When did you first get the directing bug? Is this something you wanted to do back when you were on iZombie?
Yeah, very much so. Even maybe before iZombie. I always loved TV sets and how they work. I love the sort of machine of it all, the routine, the way every day is the same but different. It’s far more mechanical, and you can anticipate elements of it in a way that you don’t on a feature film, because there is some consistency to crew and to cast members, but at the same time, there’s these inevitable surprises that happen every day, and the job of a director, in navigating all of those surprises, while still trying to keep the wheels turning always seemed like a very interesting challenge to me and something I really gravitated towards, and I like the sort of people management side of things. I was never sort of aspiring to be an independent filmmaker. I kind of really liked the way that TV sets work and how we achieve a vision that has been created by showrunners and established and how, as a gun for hire, you’re supposed to come in and help them execute that and bring as much creativity and charm as you can, but kind of keep the train on the tracks.
Back on iZombie, I did the Warner Bros. directing workshop, which is, like, 13 weeks… I made a couple of short films after that, and had we been renewed on iZombie for another season, I was hoping to direct there. But as it would happen, the chance to direct has been kicked forward a few years, and only now, in Season 4 of Ghosts, has it been something that has actually come to fruition. So I’ve been really, really excited about this and really grateful to CBS and [showrunners Joe Port and Joe Wiseman] and to my family for making it possible the same year that I became a mom. So it was, like, a bit of a baptism by fire about plate spinning.
TVLINE | How did it feel to be the first one in this cast to direct an episode?
Everybody was really supportive. I’ve been so lucky. Our cast and crew here in Montreal, especially for the cast, we’re all away from home. We’re very, very close. We’re a tight-knit family, and our crew, absolutely incredible and so supportive. So I sort of knew, going into it, that I couldn’t ask for a better work environment. I got to work a lot with Richie Moriarty, who is just one of the most deft, directable, brilliant performers. He has incredible instincts, but also knows how to give you options. And so, to have an episode that was so Pete-centric felt like a real luxury, and it’s fun. You feel like an audio engineer, sometimes, sitting with somebody like him, where you’re turning something up and switching the frequency, and he responds so fast, which you have to, because so much of directing for television is not the luxury of time. There is not a whole lot of time to explore and develop, and so, to have somebody who can get there really quickly is crucial, really, and it was just fun to see.
TVLINE | I know that directors don’t get a lot of choice in what episode they’re going to direct. It’s about scheduling and all sorts of issues. But did it feel kind of fitting to be directing a Pete-centric episode, given how special the bond is between Sam and Pete?
Yeah, it did. It was one of those strokes of luck, because I think I had committed, time-wise, to when that window was very early in the season, before that episode was actually sketched in. So then, when the Joes came to me and said, “This is what it’s looking like,” it felt like just a really fortunate opportunity.
And yeah, you don’t get a lot of say. Maybe there would’ve been some elements that might’ve been easier in directing an episode that Sam wasn’t very featured in at all. But at the same time, I actually really enjoyed the process of directing from within a scene… It really asks you to kind of wake up the split screen in your brain a little bit, and I really like that. So I would kind of try to make sure I had a couple of my own in the tank, performance-wise, and then be able to really focus on listening to other people’s choices. And I was able to go back and review the monitor for any things that I was particularly kind of concerned about, how we may have framed them or what was being included or excluded. But I also had the luxury of a DP and a first AD who we’ve worked with now for years. Matt [Jemus] is our first AD, and Michel [St-Martin] is our DP, and they both were just incredibly vital in helping guide me and being an extra set of eyes and ears, so that I was able to be present in the scenes as much as possible, as well.
TVLINE | Did any of your castmates play any pranks on you or rib you at all during the directing process?
[Laughs] You know, I don’t even know. [When] I look back, it was a blur. I’m sure, yes. I’m sure they would’ve, but I think there was some jovial eye rolls if ever I asked anybody for anything different. [Laughs] But in general, everybody was actually overwhelmingly supportive. We put some of the jest aside, and I felt very much like they helped me feel confident in the experience by just really having my back, which just makes or breaks the way that you navigate a day.
TVLINE | Is there a scene that stands out for you that was particularly fun or special or challenging to direct?
I really loved shooting the flashback stuff when we were in the travel agency. I had a really good experience with that and just seeing every department be able to really shine in how they brought the ’80s to life. But also, I love Caroline Aaron, who plays Carol. She’s so, so talented and so funny, and I really enjoyed a couple of the sequences in the barn where she was filling Pete in on Anthony and his friends. Being able to direct Caroline was a real treat.
TVLINE | Did you watch any mafia movies to prepare for this episode?
Oh, yeah! The night before, I was rewatching Goodfellas just to kind of have it hovering in the back of my mind, and we got a couple of little moments in there that [were] supposed to be references to that. Even one of the moments in the barn in the dining room of the restaurant where Anthony is making a joke and trying to keep everybody on the edge of their seat, and they’re nervously laughing, I really leaned into the sequence in Goodfellas where Pesci’s doing the same. So it was fun. It was a really cool episode in that it did have a genre it was so clearly drawing from. So a few moments, we try to do that, but at the same time, primarily, I was focused on making sure that, emotionally, the stakes were warranted, that we really felt Pete’s sense of vulnerability and feeling like a fool, and saw beyond that and saw to how beautiful and trusting he is.
TVLINE | Do you already have plans to direct next season? Is that something you’ve already talked with the Joes about?
Yeah, I’m desperate to. It’s really kind of up to them, and I think we had a really positive experience this time, and I’m really keen to direct more on this show and, potentially, on other shows, as well. So we’ll see whether anything comes to fruition, but that’s very much my intention.
TVLINE | Did any of your castmates come up to you in the process and say something along the lines of, like, that seeing you do it inspired them to do it or ask you for advice?
Yeah, very much. A number of our cast have shadowed directors now. It’s such a valuable thing to do, whether you end up directing on the show or not. I’ve shadowed many directors now in the past, and I’ve found it immensely helpful to understand even my role as an actor on set and where some of the decisions are made that dictate how a day pans out on set. It’s really informative. It helps you develop lots of compassion and respect for the incredible collaborators that aren’t on set every day, that are all in the pre-production process. So, yeah, I’ve happily encouraged everybody, and hopefully, some of them get the opportunity to direct on the show, as well.
Ghosts fans, what did you think of the episode? Hit the comments!
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