‘Ghosts’ Star Richie Moriarty Shares Surprising Revelation About His Character Pete (Exclusive)

Since first breaking out onto the television landscape last October, Ghosts has become a breakout hit for CBS thanks to its clever writing, direction, and an affable ensemble cast. Across its 18 episodes, fans have come to love the characters as much as the stories behind these lively figures. One such spirit is Pete Martino, played by Richie Moriarty — a girl scout troop leader who died on the Woodstone Mansion grounds in 1985 after being shot in the neck accidentally by an untrained member of his young team. But while audiences have learned many of the ghosts at Woodstone have “powers” like Alberta (Danielle Pinnock), who can be heard singing by the Livings, or Thorfinn (Devan Chandler Long), who can manipulate electricity, we have yet to learn what Pete’s powers are.

In an exclusive with PopCulture.com, Moriarty divulges an interesting revelation about his character’s powers from early on in the show but reveals the idea was later tossed. “So there was [an episode],” he said while reflecting on the first season of , now streaming on Paramount+. “They did write an episode in Season 1 that revealed my power. But I think there was some logic stuff that ended up being brought up in the final stages of the draft of that episode, and it ended up being scrapped.” 

While Moriarty admits he is not sure if it will “come back” as the same power that was revealed in the original draft, he is as eager as the fans to learn what that power is. “I think there are a lot of fun options, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what they can find and what they come up with. I’m excited about that,” he said. With the show just scratching the surface of its multiple characters, with audiences learning more about their life before death, Moriarty says he is “absolutely” thrilled. “I’m very excited to continue to see this guy grow and become more three-dimensional as well, so it’s exciting.”

As Moriarty’s character Pete grows into a more multilayered character to him, he praises the “Pete’s Wife” episode for really bringing his on-screen counterpart to life. “[That] episode was the beginning of my character feeling more three-dimensional to me, where you got to see him be angry and go through that emotional moment of reunification with his family,” he said. “That to me was like, ‘Oh, okay, I know who this person is now in a way that I don’t feel like I did before,’ and it really wasn’t until I got to actually shoot that episode that I felt more comfortable as Pete. So that, to me, was a real turning point and opened me up to a lot of different, fun exploratory moments later in the season, especially with Betsy Sodaro as Nancy from the cholera pit, just being able to scream at her and tap into that angry Pete side.”

For more on Ghosts and Richie Moriarty, stay tuned to the latest about the show, news about the cast, and everything in between only on PopCulture. In the meantime, relive the first season of Ghosts on Paramount+ and get an exclusive streaming offer here.