The smash-hit CBS sitcom Ghosts is gearing up for Season 2 this fall but while fans relive the episodes from the beginning this summer on Paramount+, Emmys buzz is stirring around the new single-camera comedy with plenty of eyes on the ensemble cast led by Rose McIver and Utkarsh Ambudkar. From clever writing to hilarious performances, the show has been a new favorite among audiences with a season average rating of 8.4 million viewers. As the cast and crew head back to Montreal this June to shoot 22 episodes for Season 2, PopCulture.com looks back at what it took for Ambudkar to take on the role of Hetty Woodstone in the fan-favorite episode, “Possession.”
While talking about the series last December, Ambudkar praised his co-star Rebecca Wisocky, sharing how the episode was a “super fun” one to film with his castmates and channeling her “dynamic, distinct” character was an exciting opportunity. “I was really excited to have the chance to just do something wacky, a little bit weird. I mean, it’s got to be grounded when you’re impersonating someone. It has to have some truth in it,” Ambudkar told PopCulture. “But like Rebecca — Rebecca’s created such a dynamic, distinct, very clear character with Hetty. She’s got a very certain voice. She’s got a very certain poise. Her eyes are just so. And Rebecca, craft-wise, did a lot of the work already. Most of the heavy lifting, she did. All great impersonations you have to have really strong source material. Kudos to Rebecca for creating that for me.”
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Sharing how he nailed the Hetty persona, Ambudkar said it’s all in the “hoot” that she projects. “Hetty’s got this ‘hoo, hoo’ and once you get that ‘hoo, hoo’ — once you get the music of her voice, the rest kind of comes easy. You have to pretend that you’ve been wearing a corset for like 250 years,” he said. “That also is key in playing Hetty. But yeah, that’s, that was pretty much it. Stand up straight and ‘Ooh’ and do the hoot, and you’re good to go.”
As for the show’s climbing popularity, Ambudkar says it works so well because of how it “casts a wide net” in terms of diversifying the storylines. “You have so many different characters with so many different points of view. It’s absurd. It’s a smart premise,” he said. “I think just a lot of people can watch it. It’s very accessible and it’s really funny and it’s fast and it’s quick-witted… has a lot of heart.”
In a telephone interview with Ambudkar last October ahead of the Season 1 premiere, the rapper and actor admits that while the goal is to create an experience for viewers that is “enjoyed universally,” Ghosts helps target specific audiences by giving them what they want through relatable content. “The funniest thing is always the truth. The times when we laugh the most is when we see a comedian or we see someone tell the truth and we relate,” he said via telephone. “The more groups that we can include in the story, the more people are able to connect to it; and the more truth that we can tell from different perspectives, the more people laugh.”
Ambudkar says that while some of the jokes might not always be understood by some cultures, it allows other cultures to “feel seen and represented” — something he admits is “really the goal” of creating inclusivity and comedy that embraces representation. “I hope that we’re doing that to some degree with this show. It’s way, way, way less about who’s in front of the camera and way more about who’s behind the camera, in the writer’s room, producers, the creators, the crew, the design team, the creative team, executives,” he said. “A lot of people just stop at who’s on-screen, but it’s way more important to look at who’s making the shows and what stories they want to tell and how willing they are, to tell the truth. I think Ghosts has done a really good job so far.”
For more on Ghosts and Utkarsh Ambudkar, stay tuned to the very 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 for free from June 3 to Sept. 2, 2022.
