GHOSTS’S ASHER GRODMAN ON UNPREDICTABILITY AND INEVITABILITY

BY IRVIN RIVERA

Actor, writer, producer, director ASHER GRODMAN stars as TREVOR in the CBS show GHOSTS. Trevor Lefkowitz is the recently deceased Ghost in the Woodstone Manor, considered as the “youngest” ghost in the house. He was a Wall Street trader who died of a heart attack without his pants on, thus making him the pantsless ghost in the series.

Ghosts is an American television sitcom adapted from the British series of the same name, created by Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard, and Ben Willbond for CBS.

FASHION STYLING: GEORGIE STORM WAITE, GROOMING: LARRY TRAEVON, PHOTO ASST: JESSE ZAPATERO

Ghosts is a brilliant show with an exceptional cast (Rose McIver as Sam, Utkarsh Ambudkar as Jay, Brandon Scott Jones as Captain Isaac Higgintoot, Richie Moriarty as Pete, Rebecca Wisocky as Hetty, Sheila Carrasco as flower, Danielle Pinnock as Alberta, Román Zaragoza as Sasappis, Devan Chandler Long as Thorfinn) that explores the narratives of life and the afterlife- it’s crossroads, and all the seemingly endless possibilities of conflicts, challenges, and joys that this intersecting concepts have.

In the show, Asher perfectly portrays a multi-layered Wall Street jock. His performance throughout the first season of the show is a perfect blend of funny, perfect-timing, relatability and heart. If Sam (Rose McIver) acts as the immediate bridge between the living and the dead, Trevor is that immediate bridge that connects the generational gaps among the ghosts in the house.

In this exclusive interview, Asher Grodman spoke about his experiences in the show, the joys of creating with the brilliant showrunners, creators, writers and cast, working with people who likes each other, the highs and the lows of creating the series, his dream project, living in a haunted house, and more.

WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW BELOW

How have you been since the show was released?

Oh my God. That’s a very big question. In the beginning you’re just kind of making a thing in the void, especially because of COVID. We’re all kind of in our little bubble,making this thing in Montreal. The response of the show wasn’t something that is infiltrating our lives. The premiere happened- I guess something’s going on here. This is catching fire, maybe. And then for most of it, we were already gathered and still shooting, so we were just chugging along. And it was not until we finished Season 1 in late January that we all started reintegrating into society and then it started to feel real, you know? It’s crazy to hear from old friends who are watching it and people who I admire are watching it. I'm like, You are watching my show? That’s crazy!

So yeah It’s been a surreal experience. But the best part is going on this journey with a cast who genuinely likes each other. That’s the highlight.

How would you describe Trevor’s character evolution throughout the entire season?

Oh wow first of all, the coolest thing that could ever possibly happen to Trevor happens which is this hottie shows up and then inherits the house. So for him, who is like, the most recently dead, speaks a different language than almost everyone because his whole life was based on partying and he references those times. And Pete gets a little bit [of it], but not enough. So then Sam shows up and he’s like over the moon and then over the course of the season there is a kind of a) becoming even tighter with the group and also getting to experience the joy of the other ghosts kind of learning more about the world. I mean, the world has changed in the 20 years that Trevor has been dead but I think Trevor loves watching Isaac squirm as he discovers the world a little bit. And he had that relationship with a lot of the different characters. Of course there’s the moment when Trevor thinks he’s a father. The writers… It's such a good idea.

And then as the season went on, kind of grappling with… that’s the fun thing with the show and with our writers is that we can deal with almost any existential question like- our writers made an episode about catfishing and suddenly it came about existential loneliness. I was like, how do you the fuck guys come up with that? That’s such a brilliant idea.

And then of course with Trevor’s pants, the mystery that it became, I never saw it coming. Being able to, as I think a lot of other characters do, reexamine our lives and kind of realize that maybe the best family that he’s ever been part of is the one that he’s with right now, and that this group had his back. And I think that’s one of the fun things with the show- that life continues to the afterlife. And there’s still unfinished business that can still be a joyful turbulent ride.

What drew you to this character?

I’ve been doing this for 18 years and most of them have been filled with unemployment and struggling. But in the course of that time I’ve done a lot of pilot seasons and read a lot of these pilots and always when you read a pilot, you can tell from the pilot exactly what will happen in episode 2 and you kind of see the arc of the story. This one, I read it and I was like, there is so much joy on the page, it was so funny and poignant, and I was like, they could do anything. They are boundless. There’s endless possibilities. That was thrilling. Plus the characters were so specific and well written. I saw an opportunity with Trevor even though the writing was so specific and that he was tied in a time and a place, but I also kind of saw this puppy-ish quality in him that I thought could add another level of something that I would be interested in playing in. So all of those elements together. And I mean, really, I just think the writing is outstanding

Do you prefer being surprised as opposed to being able to predict things?

Absolutely. If you can predict what’s gonna happen next, there’s really nothing for you to watch. Figuring out what’s gonna happen is the thing that pulls you along. And then the really satisfying things are- this is in the words of Sidney Lumet- When things are unpredictable, yet inevitable. He was amazing. I wrote my senior thesis on him and I got to interview him and that was one of his quotes that he gave me. I don’t know if it started with him or if it started from somebody else but I love that because you get those and you find this at the end of the series, which is where we are reaching, where you never saw it coming but yes, of course that’s what had to happen. And there's satisfaction in that.

That’s beautiful.

What do you think is the secret spice or recipe to make a successful show like this? What is it that makes this show magical?

I think with us, my working theory is that our writers’ ability to take something as meaningless as a missing pair of pants and turn it into something as poignant as abusive group dynamics and hazing and make it a commentary on that, I think the ability to take something funny and then turn it to something poignant on a dime, that is one thing. But I think the fact there is so much joy on the page, and I think hopefully, because the cast- we feel that way about each other that that translates. And lastly because I think there’s an element of fun in bridging the most inaccessible gap, the living and the dead, and just slamming those things together in such a way that it’s almost mundane. There’s a lot of joy in that. This afterlife thing you can’t access is something right there sitting with you as you have coffee and you can’t get away from it and they’re bored. To turn the dead into puppies, in essence is a lot of fun. And the connections that are possible and the found family dynamics that emerged.

What’s a valuable lesson that you learned throughout your career that you always carry with you?

The story is more important than the character, as an actor, because it makes you part of the team. It makes you part of the group who is assembling the piece of work. And another thing, this is just a commentary on life. I got this from Larry Moss who is an acting coach who mentored me and he’s just an incredible guy. The first one came from Bob Krakower, I learned that from him. The second one, which is a commentary on life, in hard times, Larry would always say, treat yourself like you are your own son or daughter. And I think that is a very poignant and important thing. At least, it has been for me.

If you were a book, what book would you be and why?

There’s this book American Wolf by Nate Blakeslee about the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone. And there’s this thing that happened where they introduced ten wolves and those wolves, like generations of wolves respawned- it’s like reading genesis in the Bible, except wolves. And as a guy who grew up on a farm with fourteen dogs, it’s just like this epic, completely true story about protecting the environment. It feels like at times, an allegory for humanity in the way that wolves deal with each other cause they have a very complex system of government. And to watch this population grow, it’s a very epic tale. I’m gonna say that because I love it.