'Ghosts' Star Rebecca Wisocky Previews Unexpectedly 'Explosive' New Episode With Matt Walsh (Exclusive)

01/20/2022 04:11 pm EST

Ghosts on CBS continues to dominate in viewership week after week, but with the half-hour, single-camera comedy sitcom back tonight for an all-new episode, the show is about to get even funnier with a whole other level of cheeky. In the new episode, "The Vault," airing Jan. 20 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS, another spirit is coming out of the woodwork — or in this case, the Woodstone Mansion's secret vault. Lo and behold, the house ghost is none other than Hetty's robber baron husband (and cousin), Elias (played by Matt Walsh of Veep). Trapped in the estate's vault since his death and discovered by Sam (Rose McIver), Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) and their non-living friends, Elias has finally found freedom. Yet, Hetty, played brilliantly by Rebecca Wisocky, is not too thrilled.

With Elias using his unusually intoxicating powers to try and ruin a wedding that Sam and Jay are hosting at the estate, Wisocky tells PopCulture.com exclusively that Walsh's guest-starring role on the show was an "exciting" one for the cast, especially in light of the series' recent success and one that will highlight some "explosive" developments.

"These extraordinarily talented comedians that have wanted to come and play with us and have brought so much life to the party — I mean, we had Rachael Harris and Betsy Sodaro and Punam Patel and Mark Linn-Baker," Wisocky told PopCulture, further teasing how Rob Huebel is also about to jump in few episodes. "But Matt Walsh, when I heard that they cast [him] to play my husband, I literally jumped up and down. Not only do we look like we could be related, which is so great because I love the way Hetty refers to Elias as her husband/first cousin, but we had a blast. He did such a lovely, subtle job — he could have come in and really played his villain to the hilt. But he really doubled down on historical accuracy."

With a hilarious and surprising development in light of Elias' arrival that no one saw coming in "The Vault," Wisocky teases Hetty's character (who is also a very "mercurial creature") will come into her own with tonight's episode and "milk that for all it's worth." Adding how even the cast was surprised over what will happen to Hetty's husband, the Pennslyvania native laughed while warning she was not sharing a single spoiler ahead of the episode. "It is quite an explosive kind of event and none of us expected it," she said. "It changes the entire, the canon of the world — for the ghost in terms of what is possible. And just, I think it was a sort of genius by our writers to come up with that."

Further adding how Walsh's Elias was a "real guy" that did exist during that era, she affirms how he was "such a good example" of the robber baron type, especially in how he "does not ever respect or desire for his wife to have a voice" — something her character has been finding more of thanks to Samantha's arrival. "You understand so much more about Hetty because of that and because of the way he treats her," she said.

Adding how her character's evolving relationship with McIver's bold and confident Sam is something she absolutely adores, Wisocky expresses how much she loves their on-screen relationship, particularly after the "Possession" episode, which was a real turning point for Hetty. "I love [their] relationship so much. I think in some ways you can say, 'Oh, of course, that would happen.' But it also was so lovely and unexpected for both Rose and I to get to explore that, and I think that that will continue," she said, teasing how audiences might also learn more about whether or not Hetty had children and how that comes into play for "the mother-daughter surrogacy with Samantha's character." 

While praising her co-stars, Wisocky also mentions how her evolving character can be attributed to 1920s jazz singer, Alberta (Danielle Pinnock) and her push toward independence. "Hetty learns a whole heck of a lot from Alberta," she said. "One of her earliest baby steps towards a little bit of female empowerment happens very early when [she] convinces her that women should have the right to vote. Hetty takes little baby steps into the modern world, and then takes a couple of steps back, which is, of course, what makes it humorous."

Admitting that Hetty was "robbed of having any voice or true freedom or autonomy as a woman in that era," Wisocky adds that her on-screen character is also "a creature of incredible privilege and status," further demonstrating she was not all good. "Those contradictions of her kind of having a soft heart yet, I mean, the way in which she's so disdainful of Irish people or people who are poor," she said. "She lived in a time in which she herself could have been perceived as a villain, but it was very important for me to know that there was room for her to explore her own hypocrisy."

Articulating how the beauty of Ghosts is that all these characters are "able to bend and change," Wisocky says it's "inevitable" that they would while living together in the afterlife. "They're on top of one another for all of eternity. But they're also very committed and entrenched in the problematic socials mores of their time and I think that's true for every single one of the ghosts."

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. 

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