‘Ghosts’ Star Sheila Carrasco Talks Challenges of Figuring out Flower’s ‘Levels’ (Exclusive)

CBS’s new sitcom Ghosts has been making more than just a splash with viewers this season. The Thursday night series has been breaking records for the network and is now reported by CBS as the top new comedy with more than 1.5 billion minutes watched to date. Tied with a consistent broadcast viewership and growing, Ghosts has shown more promise than any show in the last few years thanks to its feel-good humor, clever writing and performances.

With a new episode airing tonight focusing on one of the biggest secrets from house ghost Flower played by Sheila Carrasco, the actress and Upright Citizens Brigade alum reveals to PopCulture.com exclusively how it’s an episode she is most excited about thanks to the writers unveiling more “layers” of her hippie character, a challenge she has wholeheartedly accepted.

“[It’s a challenge] really figuring out her levels. You know, in terms of serving the story, I want to make sure that we’re, as a group, all accomplishing what we need to accomplish in every scene, but at the same time, Flower’s game, the comedy of Flower is that is a little offbeat and it’s a little not quite with the rest of the group or ‘What are we talking about?’” she said. “So finding that balance of how hot to come in sometimes with whatever world she is currently in and then also serving the rest of the scene has been, I guess, the main challenge.”

Still, she admits it hasn’t been “too hard” compared to her co-stars, like Asher Grodman being pantless throughout the show with his character Trevor or Richie Moriarty wearing a prop arrow in his neck for the portrayal of Boy Scout leader Pete. The ease in understanding their roles has been made all possible thanks to their production team. “We’ve just had great directors that have been really great at specifics, like what they need and we make adjustments, but really we just try to get a couple of different versions each pass and then they can kind of go from there.”

In the seventh episode of the season airing Thursday night, called “Flower’s Article,” Sam (Rose McIver) is commissioned to write an article about Flower and her friends holding up a bank during their commune days. However, Flower begs Sam not to accept the job because she’s embarrassed about a specific part of the story she’s never revealed. With Flower appearing very light and carefree on the surface, Carrasco says the “layered” appeal of her character was the biggest reason she “immediately connected” with the role. 

“You could play [Flower] so many different ways and I was like, ‘Well, I can play her like she’s Janice from The Muppets, you know?’ And that kind of more like, hippie, like vibe, you were born like this, or we could just see what happens if she’s kind of half in her own world and half in the world of the rest of the ghosts,” she said. “So what was really cool to me about playing the character was getting to figure out her physicality and what her inner life is. And even though she may be in a room and in a scene with the rest of the ghosts and totally on board with them and kind of understanding what’s happening. She’s also seeing all these amazing colors behind Pete’s head and is having a great, great time. That’s her little secret. So kind of exploring that really was my way in.”

Admitting that’s what is “so fun” to her about Flower, Carrasco reveals when she first read for her, she thought, “what a fun, cool world to kind of figure out” with the cast. While the show is inspired by the BBC version of the same name, she shares how Flower is a bit more of a “liberating” kind of character thanks to her personality being somewhat unique to the storytelling. Unlike her co-stars, Carrasco admits she was most “comfortable” watching the show without feeling like she was impersonating any of the characters.

“You have to be careful sometimes about watching someone else basically do your counterpart because you don’t want it to get in your head. So I totally understand the actors in our cast that chose to, at a certain point say, ‘I can’t keep watching this.’ But I felt really comfortable watching it because it gave me that freedom,” she said. “At the same time, it was really helpful for me in terms of understanding the tone in order to watch it and I also was really inspired by Lolly Adefope and [Katy Wix].”

Further adding how both of their characters “inspired” her, she admits how Flower is a combo of these two, who play Kitty and Mary, respectively. “She’s super happy and wants to be everyone’s best friend like Kitty, but she’s also a little bit of Mary too. And like, you might not understand what she said half the time and [Mary’s character] needs a bath. So it was really cool to kind of come up with my own version of my own ghost and also use them as a huge inspiration because I’m such a fan and I love that show so much and I think they’re so brilliant.”

Ghosts airs Thursday nights at 9 p.m. ET on CBS and will be available to stream live and on-demand on Paramount+. Those interested in seeing all Paramount+ has to offer can click here for a free streaming offer.