Sheila Carrasco’s Flower is the wild child of Woodstone Mansion and Ghosts‘most valuable agent of chaos.
The free-spirited hippy encounters her most poignant episode yet on Ghosts Season 2 Episode 3, “Jay’s Friends,” when a cult invades her home. I had the honor of speaking with Carrasco about Flower’s blooming backstory, upcoming episodes to watch for, and Thorfinn (of course).
“I love these episodes where there are so many things going on at the mansion. All kinds of characters have a chance to develop their backstories,” Carrasco said of the large ensemble nature of this cult episode.
“Flower finding out about her brother took my breath away when I first read it. I actually cold read it at the table read and could hardly get through it. It made me so emotional, and it’s such a well-rounded episode for everyone.”
For the actress, delving into Flower’s biological family with her found family offered an incredibly enticing wheelhouse.
“I’m from a big family, and I’m the youngest of four kids. We all have very different relationships with each other. And when we’re all together, it’s a circus. So I think that dynamic for Flower opens the doors for a lot of potential comedy in the future,” Carrasco noted.
“She likes to be around people and part of a community. So it speaks to why she joined the cult and also why she enjoys being with the other ghosts all the time.”
For Carrasco, the emotional threads that follow Flower through this episode hit much deeper than expected when it’s revealed the ex-cultist had thought she lost her brother in Vietnam.
“I have two siblings that are on active duty in the military. I have a brother that’s a Lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps, and I have a sister that’s a Lieutenant colonel — she’s a JAG in the Air Force. I’m very proud to be their sister,” she revealed.
“It was such a special, poignant episode for Flower to have a sibling that served in Vietnam that she wishes she could have supported in a better way.”
Flower & Thorfinn
When asked what dynamic Carrasco would like to see more of, she confirmed it was the unconventional love story. “I’m excited to explore Flower’s dynamic with Thorfinn. There is a potential for a very deep spiritual connection between the two.”
“Even though Thorfinn is a Viking and a warrior, he’s also a very old soul capable of emotional depth. Even though they’re both people that speak in the fewest amount of words, they’re also super connected emotionally. So in a way, they speak the same language, and I’m excited to figure out what that language is.”
Carrasco said Flower and Thorfinn “are very attracted to each other,” and a romantic relationship is possible for the star-crossed lovers if they can address the issues keeping them apart.
“I think it could be very sweet and also very physical,” she shared. “As for Flower, she has to figure out, ‘do I go with the flow and allow myself to be emotionally vulnerable and exclusive to one person?” and ‘what does that mean for me?’ I think that’s a big question for her. Thorfinn has to do a bit of work on himself as someone that boasts about murdering Danish people — that’s definitely a turn-off for Flower.”
“A hippy from the sixties and a Viking from the early thousands; that is the biggest version of opposites attract I can think of. So it can be very powerful once they finally get over their differences.”
And their ability to wreak more havoc together than apart is a promising catalyst. “I hope they end up together, and Flower invites him into her room right next to Hetty’s,” Carrasco joked.
The Evolution of Flower
Flower’s high-on-life attitude often puts her in a position to be a powerful agent of chaos, something Carrasco loved weaponizing. “The fact that she is a stoner and she doesn’t really mean to ever wreak havoc is the key to her wreaking havoc,” she said.
“It’s all accidental because she’s in her own world. That’s how I access her ability to be an agent of chaos is investing in all the colors she might be seeing and distracted by, and her memory lapses. So I commit hard to Flower trying her best to stay lucid amidst all of that.”
Fans weren’t the only ones who fell for the hippy’s unique brand of chaos. Carrasco has always loved the unpredictability of Flower and her ability to be a valuable “wild card” for the ensemble.
“Like, what is she going to say next? Or what personal detail are we going to be floored by that we hadn’t known before? Because it’s all possible with Flower. We’re just getting started on the life she lived, in addition to the afterlife she’s living. It’s all very colorful and has room for a lot of possibilities,” she explained.
“I love the physical comedy of Flower. Everybody has their own physical comedy, and Flowers is the kite in the wind. So, any time they do a wide shot where I’m chasing something, it feels like that is her spirit distilled.”
Ghosts uses Flower’s short memory to manipulate the story in fascinating ways, forging unconventional friendships for her in the process.
“Danielle Pinnock is so wonderful to act with, and I love the dynamic between Alberta and Flower. She’s always helping Flower by pointing out like, ‘honey, that’s not what we’re talking about.’ She knows Flower better than Flower knows herself,” Carrasco pointed out.
“The fact that she’s able to reenter that scene and gently leads her to that conclusion says so much about Alberta and how much she cares for Flower. Even though she’s tricking her, she’s also trying to help her.”
When it comes to Flower constantly forgetting Jay’s name, Carrasco hopes the running joke can “go for a while.”
“That actually started as improv in the first episode and is slowly building. We can’t do it all the time because sometimes she does remember who he is, but I would love it if we keep this running until one day, maybe Flower meets Jay and has no idea who he is. That would be a great payoff for me,” she declared.
But Flower isn’t always high, and when those moments of lucidness hit, Carrasco does her best work. The most recent example comes during “Jay’s Friends” when Flower reads her brother’s letter out loud.
“The writers really gifted me with that. In the script it says, ‘Flower in tears,’ because they wanted this to be a beautiful moment for her. The truth is, Flower is not always high. She’s in and out of being high in her afterlife — and that’s the key for her. So she is capable of these moments where she does remember her family, and she does have unresolved conflicts that she needs to deal with. So I really love it when they give me an opportunity to ground her.”
Dream Cameos & Upcoming Episodes
Ghosts‘ second season is brimming with surprises, from a Halloween sequel to Christmas specials to a treat for fans of the original BBC show. So what upcoming episode is Carrasco most excited for us to see?
“Oh, I’m really excited for the “Dumb Deaths” episode — I believe that is Episode 7,” Carrasco revealed.
“We managed to get one of the creators and stars of BBC’s Ghosts, Mathew Baynton. We were thrilled to have him on set, and the episode is so funny and beautifully written. We got to shoot mostly exteriors and delve into more of Pete’s life. We also see more of a Flower backstory, and it uses the ensemble in such a beautiful way that there’s so much going on. It feels very chaotic, but it’s also a really suspenseful episode, in my opinion.”
And if that sounds good, the actress confesses that’s just the start of what the sitcom is cooking up for fans this season.
“There are so many good ones this season, really. The Christmas episodes are amazing and we have great episodes coming up after the Christmas episode that we’re shooting right now we’re very excited about. They have some amazing guest stars we can’t announce yet. So I’m thrilled for the viewers to see the rest of Season 2 because our characters really start taking leaps.”
So much of the show’s success leans on the small revelations about these characters, and Carrasco confirmed the writers keep certain aspects of their backstory as surprises for the table read.
“It’s like Christmas morning every time we get a new script,” she said. “Like finding out Flower was a fan of basketball. I’m a fan, and I played in high school, but I had no idea that they were cooking that up for her. It’s always such a delicious treat.”
With the tease that Season 2 will feature even more guest stars, Carrasco shared her dream Ghosts cameos, and they are killer!
“There are so many comedians that I have always been dying to work with. Rita Moreno 100%, Lily Tomlin, Carol Burnett. And I have ideas for who could potentially play Flower’s brother one day. I would love it if Horatio Sanz were 20-30 years older because he’s Chilean-American and he’s so funny.”
“I grew up idolizing Rita Moreno. So I need to save that for a season way down the road because I don’t know how I could ever come down from that.”
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Ghosts airs Thursdays at 8:30/7:30c on CBS.
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Alicia Gilstorf
Alicia is a writer from Canada. She credits her passion for TV and film to superheroes, workplace comedies, cheesy holiday movies, and coming-of-age stories.Keep a lookout for her coverage of Ghosts.
