A murder is about to be solved at Woodstone Manor, and the star at the center of the mystery is excited for you to discover the truth!
Danielle Pinnock, who plays the legendary lounge singer Alberta Haynes, has eagerly awaited the big reveal behind her character’s untimely death.
The mystery has been one of Ghosts’ biggest plot points. We’ve watched as new clues were discovered, podcast episodes were released, and suspects were brought to the table. It’s been a journey for Alberta, the ghosts, and us viewers.
We got to chat with Pinnock about the murder mystery, her hopes for upcoming seasons, and her love for all things Ghosts. Ghosts fans, if you could hear her passion from the interview, it would make you smile too!
Check out the interview below.
I’m excited to chat with you because I love Ghosts, and Alberta is one of my favorite characters.
Yes!!! That’s awesome!
Right off the bat, Ghosts Season 2 ends soon, and we’re getting into Ghosts Season 3 next year with the renewal news. Are you excited about where Alberta has gone throughout these last two seasons?
Friend, I am quite literally busting at the scenes. It’s like beyond exciting! I am bursting.
I am thrilled with how far Alberta’s journey has come. Ghosts Season 1, I’m going to get real candid with you; I had a ton of imposter syndrome. It was my first series regular role, and we got it in the thick of the global pandemic in 2020.
I had no idea if I could even do it. I had only gotten guest stars or co-stars before and many occupationally driven roles, like the “sassy nurse” or the “disgruntled librarian.”
And to have the vehicle now where I could fully realize the character, I wasn’t sure if I could do it.
I’m so grateful to the fans, our showrunners, and our cast for giving me the confidence to keep going.
For Ghosts Season 2, I have a better sense of this character. She is beyond the hilarious one-liners and the hot mess; she is so complex.
We see why she’s always wanted to be famous and why she has this diva persona and exterior. We see her fears with engaging in romantic moments with Pete.
And in these last couple of episodes, we find out that she always wanted to be a parent but couldn’t because she died so young.
And we’re going to solve this murder! The people who have been gaslighting her the most may have been involved. [Laughs]
It’s been fabulous to spread my wings this way as an actor.
As we peel back the layers of Alberta and see her vulnerability, as an actor, I’m getting more confidence. When I was doing guest star and co-star roles, I never got to dive this deep with a character.
I was doing this deep work while in theater, and I had 15 to 17 years’ worth of that. So, it’s exciting to put all the puzzle pieces together to make this fully realized character.
It’s truly an honor playing Alberta.
And it’s been great; I’ve seen the growth in Alberta. What’s been your favorite thing that you’ve brought to see her grow through these two seasons?
What I’m most excited about with this season, particularly, is that the showrunners have been so open to collaborating.
If I see something on the page that doesn’t feel like my character, not just say this or maybe be an avenue for them, they’re open to hearing us. Open to hearing us pitch storylines and improvise.
With the confidence of knowing and living this character these last two years, I have been able to collaborate more with them.
The episode like “Alberta’s Descendant” [Ghosts Season 2 Episode 18], specifically. That cold open where she’s asking questions like, “Oh my god, I’ve got a niece! I’ve got family! What happened to Uncle Vince? And what happened to Auntie Val?!”
A lot of that was improvised.
That came with the confidence of knowing that character, through and through now. I’m excited for more moments like that in Ghosts Season 3.
And really hype that we can now solve this murder that has been the biggest whodunnit since Trevor’s missing pants. [Laughs]
Speaking of the murder, you can’t spoil anything, but were you shocked who did it? Was it a big surprise?
Oh, absolutely! I had just found out at that moment. We had gotten that script while we were filming.
On our lunch break, we had read through the script during a table read, and I was like, “Oh my god!” [Laughs]
And then, it came to, “Okay, if this is where we’re going with the mystery, I now need to put the pieces together on how we got there.” And my backstory, emotions, and how we get to this position and place.
It feels like a lot of collaboration, not only between us and the showrunners but us as actors and the ensemble.
I’m so proud of these episodes. These are probably some of the best episodes I’ve had as an actor in my career thus far. I cannot wait to see the audience’s reaction!
What they think it is, it is not. [Laughs] They’re going to be surprised.
So you only found out at the exact moment when you got the script? Did you have any inkling beforehand?!
We had no idea! I thought it was her [spoiler]. I thought it was going to be [spoiler]. [Laughs]
We’ve had a few episodes of the podcast and getting a few key clues. Did you think the mystery was heading down a different path, or were you pleasantly surprised by where the mystery ultimately went?
I had no idea what they were going to do. They truly threw us for a loop.
I loved it because it keeps us as actors on our toes. I’m a huge documentary murder podcast girl, so any time that I think it’s the boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, or wife, it usually ends up being the neighbor. [Laughs]
And I think that’s what they did in these last couple of episodes.
I love it! It keeps the show fresh. It keeps the mundaneness of it all away. And it keeps the audience surprised. I’m excited to see how everyone reacts to it online. I can’t wait!
Since the big moment is coming up, where would you hope to see Alberta go next with the character?
You know what, I think my girl is a little one-track-minded.
People have been asking about what’s going on with her relationship with Pete. I would love to see that explored more on Ghosts Season 3. Alberta has had to focus on her murder because this has been the most pressing for her for the last hundred years.
And now, with this freedom and knowing who did it and who was involved, I hope this takes a weight off her shoulders and that she can now allow love into her life. And happy love, specifically.
We know she’s been with the bootleggers, and we see Earl in these flashbacks. We finally get to meet him, and we know Alberta wasn’t just talking the talk. She was walking the walk.
She was rubbing shoulders with Al Capone. [Laughs] And these high-level gangsters, you know.
I’m excited for even more flashbacks to learn more about her family and her relationship with her sister. And who her parents are.
Beyond Alberta, I have to say, having a great throughline in Ghosts Season 2, I’m excited to see other ghosts get their chance too for Ghosts Season 3 and beyond.
I wanna learn more about Flower. We know that Flower was a lawyer before she was a hippie. [Laughs] We learned that she had a brother who was in Vietnam that may still be alive. I want to learn more about that and who she is.
Beyond the ghosts, I want Sam to have some friends. [Laughs]
I’m like, “Girl, can you go on a girls’ trip real quick? And get some talking people into your life that other people can see!”
And for Jay, I want to meet his parents and see his friends from New York come up and visit. And how he interacts with them.
This show has thousands of years of history we can pull from, but there are so many stories that can be told. This show truly can last, fingers crossed, for seasons and seasons.
Because there are so many ghosts interacting, do you love joining in the episodes where it’s a ghost’s backstory explored, and you’re also getting to interact in their story?
That’s the thing; it’s hard because I love it all!
I love a good flashback. Like, I loved the one we saw when Pete’s daughter got married, and we got to see them with the flowers [Ghosts Season 2 Episode 19]. When the little girl was a baby, and then he was screaming at Carol.
These moments are so character-defining. We love Pete, and we know Pete is so even keel, but the one that pushes his buttons is his wife.
I love things like that. I love a flashback, but I also love these interpersonal relationships between the ghosts. And the foolishness they create amongst themselves.
Like, Alberta and Isaac with the case of who stole Crash’s head. I mean, they were giving Watson and Sherlock. They’re the best duo since Tia and Tamera, in my opinion! [Laughs] I’m excited for more shenanigans and more fun.
Honestly, we can take any episode out of the year because our characters are so full of life and have many great wants, needs, and desires. Once you put any combination together, there’s going to be a great episode.
What’s been your favorite scene or moment you’ve gotten to be a part of? It doesn’t have to be an Alberta-specific one, but one you loved being in that scene at that moment.
Yes! I’m going to say “Alberta’s Descendant.” And here’s why, not only was this a reunion with Alberta and her great-great-grand niece Alicia, this was a reunion between me and my very dear friend Ashley Kelley.
We went to college together at Temple University; we were actually in musicals together! And so, to be on the same show as her, with her playing my family, people have been saying for years that we look alike. We’ve got the same nose.
It was such an incredible moment to be with her. She was also making her Broadway debut in the new show “Shucked” that’s happening now.
And for her to see me, this was my first time as a series regular on television; it was incredible to get to collaborate and work with her. I can’t wait for Alicia to come back to the B&B because working with Ashley truly is a dream. She is the first of her class. She is amazing!
Speaking of family, when planning the character, do you have an idea of Alberta’s family tree, or do you get updates as the scripts come through?
When we first started on Ghosts Season 1, we gave the writers ideas about the characters. Whether it’s the history, what was going on in the time period specifically for them, and potential family members. Maybe Alberta has, you know, a sister or a mom or something, and what their heritage could be?
It was important for me to have some sort of Caribbean background for her because I’m Jamaican, and I don’t really get to see many first-generation Caribbean stories being told on broadcast TV.
They were very open to that and knew that my father meant a lot to me. He passed away when I was young, so they added that for me about Alberta’s family episode that Alberta always wanted to make her father proud with her fame.
So, these little moments that they added for us secured our relationships with these characters even more. But we don’t know. Like Flower having a brother, that was brand new information!
I had no idea Alberta was gonna have a sister, which I loved. And her involvement in the murder; I loved where they went with that storywise and how much her sister meant to her.
I’m excited to find out on Ghosts Season 3 if these folks have even more family members.
Did Pete have any siblings? [Laughs] Did Sasappis have any siblings? Was he an only child? Who was his mom?
That’s the beauty of this show. It can go either way.
For my last question, because we’re also heading up to the season finale, was there anything you’d love to tease for all the Ghosts fans out there?
What I would like to tease is that we will finally solve Alberta’s murder, but the solving of the murder will be at the cost of a friendship. And that’s all I will say. [Laughs] That’s all I will say!
Ghosts airs Thursdays at 8:30/7:30c on CBS. You can watch Ghosts online via TV Fanatic to catch up on all the past episodes.
Justin Carreiro is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.