Brandon Scott Jones (‘Ghosts’): ‘We can’t hold or touch anything’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
“We can’t hold or touch anything, or lean on anything without falling right through it,” reveals Brandon Scott Jones about playing a spirit on “Ghosts.” For our recent webchat he adds, “Trying to find your gravity as a performer within the scene, knowing that there’s only a finite number of things that you can do, is challenging in and of itself.” Watch the exclusive video interview above.
“Ghosts” is a CBS comedy about a couple who inherit a property haunted by people who have died there over the course of history. The eclectic group of ghouls includes a Viking, hippie, scout troop leader, native American and 80s stockbroker. Jones explains, “There’s 10 series regulars, and as much as you know everybody’s instinct might be to get their funny thing in, you know that your voice is part of the larger group. That larger group is what this show is about. Figuring out where that fits is a really fun process. We’re all down to clown when it comes to figuring that stuff out.”
In that larger group, Jones plays Captain Isaac Higgintoot, a closeted revolutionary officer who died of dysentery. He often laments being a footnote in history compared to his former compatriot and rival Alexander Hamilton. Jones says, “Isaac hasn’t covered up the cracks as well as he thought. Every single time he thinks he’s one step ahead, he’s two steps behind. Whether it’s because of his sexuality, and he thinks that he’s pulled the wool over anyone’s eyes, or it’s his place one step to the side of history. He’s one step down from the man he thinks he’s supposed to be. That to me is the most fun.”
The recent Critics Choice Awards nominee confesses, “God, I hope, Isaac’s more arrogant than I am. But he’s somebody that I actually felt a great deal of compassion playing. It was a challenge to revisit this concept of not being the person you thought you were going to be, and not being the person you felt other people expected of you.”
Jones has an extensive background in improv, having come up through the Upright Citizen’s Brigade theatre. He reflects, “One of the first things that you’re taught about is taking care of each other. One of the easiest ways we do that is giving each other space to play.” He adds, “And one thing is differentiating improv from being just saying something funny and realizing that it is this collaborative tool. That it’s really something that, as an actor, we can use to sort of explore our characters and go a bit deeper.”
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