‘Ghosts’ Star Danielle Pinnock Addresses Her Character’s Death Reveal (Exclusive)

On Thursday night, fans got another healthy, laugh-out-loud dose of Ghosts on CBS. But it was the episode’s conclusion that had audiences really wondering what’s next for house ghost Alberta after obsessed super-fan Todd (Rodrigo Fernandez) discovered from his own investigations while staying at Sam (Rose McIver) and Jay’s (Utkarsh Ambudkar) under construction B&B that the 1920s jazz singer had been poisoned. Shook to the core over the revelation that previously stated the flapper girl had suffered a heart attack despite her own reservations over the initial cause of death, actress Danielle Pinnock tells PopCulture.com exclusively though she is not sure what’s ahead for Alberta or if finding out whodunit will give her closure, she is optimistic of her character’s direction.

“To be honest, we will not know until we get those scripts,” Pinnock told PopCulture further stating from what she knows of her character Alberta, it might not be so simple. “I don’t know if she will get closure. I think she’d want to get even more to the bottom of like, ‘Well, why did this person do this? And what’s going on?’ And I think that’s the really beautiful thing about this show is that now these ghosts, they have access to the living, and they can really chronicle and figure out exactly what happened surrounding their deaths.”

Pinnock adds that even with characters like Wall Street bro Trevor (Asher Grodman) who is not wearing any pants, the biggest question is why. “It’s so great that [the house ghosts] kind of have a second chance at life with Sam and Jay. It’s such a beautiful show and premise and I’m so excited for people to get to know a little bit more about Alberta, and the rest of the season to see what else she has going on because she got a couple of other things happening, too.”

During the ninth episode of the freshman season, “Alberta’s Fan,” Todd, complete with his back tattoo of Alberta’s face drinks from her old moonshine bottle only to discover it had poison in it sending him straight to the hospital — an incident Sam and Jay were worried about after serving him expired chicken. While at the hospital, Todd makes mention of the B&B most positively in a local news interview and sparks an online conversation about Alberta and her murder, prompting social media to renew their interest in the legendary singer. With the news going viral, Alberta’s faith in Todd is renewed and leaves plenty open for more stories, a moment Pinnock said creates a heartwarming conclusion. “I have to say the ending when Alberta finally gets a little piece of — she gets a little bit of resolution, she’s made her family proud.”

Pinnock praises her co-star, Fernandez, saying he was an “absolute pleasure” to work with, even if his on-screen persona was creepy. “The thing that was so great with Rodrigo is that he actually got that role, it was another actor that was cast in that role and then they weren’t able to do the project. So, 24 hours before we shot the scene they called Rodrigo, and he learned that entire episode within a day and we were running lines with him on set, and I just thought he was absolutely fantastic. So creepy with the toes and stuff,” she said followed by a lighthearted “Oh my God!” scream. The “toes and stuff” Pinnock mentions lies in the fact that Todd, with all his obsessions and love for Alberta, actually has a piece of her toenail in a jar. Not to mention, the museum honoring the great Alberta Haynes is also located in his mother’s garage. 

Further praising Fernandez, Pinnock goes on to share how she is also most excited about the show’s writer’s room, especially with the talents of Lauren Bridges. “Lauren is the only African-American writer in the writer’s room and she is stunningly incredible, and for her mind to even have gone into this direction of how to get a little bit of backstory for Alberta just floors me,” she said. “I think she’s an absolute genius, and I’m so excited for people to finally see what she’s written for this. And obviously, Joe Port and Joe Wiseman who are our showrunners, have kind of ushered this episode and all the other episodes along. I cannot wait for people to see this and to see Rodrigo shine, because he is fantastic.”

Admitting how Alberta has been “coming in really strong” in supporting her co-star’s and their storylines, she was really proud to see everything come together for her in “Alberta’s Fan,” now streaming on Paramount+. “[It] finally feels like her fame is deserved, and I’m really, really excited for people to see this episode, and for them to get to know a little bit more about out her,” she said. “She has these great one-liners and these zingers. But I’m really excited now we’ve gotten to be able to now peel the boisterous onion back on Alberta and get to this core in this episode and I can’t wait to see what people think about it.”

Sharing how some of her favorite moments of the episode are when Todd takes off his shirt to expose his back tattoo, Pinnock says that moment had her laughing during every take. “I just was in hysterics. And I’m like, ‘Oh my God!’ Absolute hysterics every single time,” she said adding how another moment she loved behind-the-scenes was when her character Alberta, Thorfinn (Devan Long) and Hetty (Rebecca Wisocky) are walking the grounds of Woodstone mansion with Sam (McIver). “Rebecca and I are in our heels, in our period costume heels, so we were walking through the mulch — I wish they had the behind-the-scenes on that because we were trying to like be like, ‘We’re fit, we’re getting our steps in.’ But that mulch was taking us down. So that’s probably one of my favorite scenes as well.”

With the cast getting along like family, Pinnock says one of the biggest challenges she struggles with, as well as the whole cast, is everyone just laughing in the middle of a scene. “They’re just so funny. I mean, every single person is just on their A-game. And I do tend to be the one to break character on set because it’s so funny,” she said further stating how the show is also one that is “super relatable” for audiences, hence everyone loving it so much and the viewership breaking records as a freshmen series. “I think it’s just a brilliant show. It is fun for the whole family. It is laugh-out-loud funny. I love the responses already that we’ve been getting. I mean, we’re averaging about 7.2 million viewers a week, which is pure insanity. So the proof is in the pudding, and I hope that people can just watch it and laugh, and just take a load out. It’s such a fun show.”

Ghosts airs Thursdays 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.