Asher Grodman Talks ‘Ghosts’ Celeb Cameos and Putting the Fun in Funeral [Interview]

When Trevor’s remains resurface on Ghosts Season 2 Episode 14, “Trevor’s Body,” the Woodstone residents band together to pay their respects to T-Money and his family.

I spoke with Asher Grodman, who plays pantless life-of-the-party Trevor Lefkowitz, about the latest in his Trevor saga, manifesting that Tara Reid cameo, and the bright future of cameos at this sitcom’s disposal.

First, we discussed the child-like dynamics that come with Trevor’s “ghost of divorce” status. “I always try to bring that puppy-ish element to Trevor, because he wants everyone to be together and have fun, wants to enjoy the time that he has — and now he has eternity,” he laughed. “It’s great to play that side of him and see him be a kid again around his parents.”

And with Sam and Jay officially accepting parental responsibilities for their eight ghosts, Grodman confirmed the child dynamics have never suited the show better.

“Especially at the end of the episode with Sam and Jay — that is such a fun little thing because basically, we’re all children. We’re all these little clowns that Sam and Jay are wrangling. So, there is this very childish aspect in not being able to leave the house and doing everything you can to try and have a small effect on the world. I love that the show lets us all be children, but on a whole other level now.”

Woodstone also welcomed Tara Reid to the premises, and the cameo was undoubtedly a big deal for fans — and Trevor. It turns out the appearance has been in the works since the first name drop.

“When we first aired the pilot almost a year and a half ago, there was a clip of me doing the Tara Reid monologue circulating online, and she retweeted it with, ‘You guys are funny’ and like, a little heart or something — and I freaked out,” he recalled. “I sent it to the showrunners, Joe and Joe, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, look!'”

“We all approach this experience as children making a TV show that hopefully, someone will watch. We are poking these cultural bears and making jokes about reality television. So, for one of those icons to turn around and say, ‘Oh, that’s cool’ is a thrill for us. Flash forward a year and a half later, and I think we were all hoping that something like this would eventually happen, but for it to actually happen — and for her to be down to joke around on the show was a lot of fun.”

“This show has a life of its own now, and people are down to clown with these idiots in this house,” Grodman joked.

Indeed, it seems more and more big names are taking notice of Ghosts on social media, and it poses a bright future for the sitcom’s cameo game.

“I revisit the BBC concept all the time because it’s so brilliant and you can do almost anything with it,” he said. “The show is set up so that characters can come back into play again. Other shows are restrained by traditional plotlines. We can go back in time and pick people up.”

For Grodman, Ghosts‘ revolving door premise still mesmerizes him because it gives us episodes like “Attic Girl.”

“Like what Odessa [A’zion] gets to do, being the attic girl who wakes up for one day of the year. There are so many fun little bits. And because of the nature of our show, you can come on our show and be a pirate — I mean, you can do it. So hopefully it will be a fun playground for other people the way that it has been for us.”

As for Trevor’s funeral, If you think it was bizarre for an actor to see in-memoriam photos of himself on set, it was not. “I had to go home to my parents and take all those pictures,” he revealed.

In fact, for the actor, Trevor’s guest list was the spookiest element of this funeral.

“It was bizarre because I have never experienced that many people in the house. I think we had 20- extras there for that — we never have that many people. I think there’s an episode later this year that has more, maybe. So to have that many people on our set and a bunch of pictures from my childhood was a little like, “Who are all these people?!”

Trevor’s brother is mentioned in passing, and while Jeremy does not attend the funeral, he sends Trevor’s celebrity crush as a consolation. But could his absence hint at a bigger cameo down the road?

“I think it’s something that will play out down the road. Our writers set up this episode with “Trevor’s Pants” almost a year ago by mentioning that his body was in the lake. I think Trevor’s brother is a fun way of saying something without showing it and giving hints at the personality of a guy who is alive and could come in to play, while letting your imagination fill in the rest,” Grodman explained.

“But it could also be setting up something we can play with. So I’m very much looking forward to finding out, and I hope Trevor gets a chance to play with Jeremy.”

So who would the dream casting for T-Money’s recluse brother be in this hypothetical “Trevor’s Brother” episode?

“There’s a lot of people that I think would be amazing. You can go in a lot of directions, but Zach Braff comes to mind. Just seeing him roll up in sweat pants with stains on his shirt.”

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Ghosts airs Thursdays at 8:30/7:30c on CBS. Watch Ghosts online, now streaming on Paramount+. Try it for FREE!

Want more Ghosts content? Check out our previous episode postmortem discussion with Asher Grodman for “Trevor’s Pants” right here.

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Ghosts: Asher Grodman on the Poignancy of Trevor’s Missing Pants [Interview]