GHOSTS Post-Mortem: Richie Moriarty on Pete Getting to Be a Part of His Daughter’s Wedding Day

[Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Thursday, April 13 episode of GHOSTS, “Ghost Father of the Bride.”]

Pete (Richie Moriarty) got to watch his daughter get married on the Thursday, April 13 episode of GHOSTS.

Things nearly fell apart—thanks in part to a scheme where Sam (Rose McIver) and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) wrote a new entry in Pete’s diary to help the ghost get his way for the wedding planning…only for Pete’s grandkid to out that it was a fake—but Pete got to see his daughter tie the knot. And, as a bonus, he got to “walk” her down the aisle.

Here, Moriarty talks with Give Me My Remote about filming the episode, from the Pete flashback and navigating the effect-heavy walk down the aisle, and previews what’s to come in the final episodes of the season…

Pete got to walk his daughter down the aisle—well, as much as he was able to. Given the effects needed for the scene, what was the actual filming process like?
Our effects person was a big part of shooting that scene. Our director Jay Karas basically shot it in a number of different ways. We shot one version where Pete was essentially a half-step behind his daughter and just sort of escorting her, but not having any physical interaction. And then we shot a version where I just immediately link arms with her, even though I know it’s going to hurt me deeply.

It was really interesting, because we did a couple of versions where I’m linking arms with her, but she’s sort of creating enough space for my arm to go through her arm where I’m not actually touching her. And then we did another version where we are sort of linked. I think the effects person wanted to have a bunch of different options so that they could try it out in post and see what would work.

I remember Jay saying to me after we shot it, “I really love you basically like yelping in pain as you’re walking down the aisle and saying, ‘It’s worth it.’” Because of course that is the traditional thing, when you imagine walking your daughter or your child down the aisle—you imagine linking arms with them and having them sharing that sweet moment together. So I think it’s very sweet of Pete to just be like, “Yeah, this is gonna hurt quite a bit. But, you know, this is the only opportunity I’m gonna get to walk her down the aisle and I want to do it the traditional way.”

But it was very interesting. We probably shot that walk down the aisle seven times, to get it right. And I think they sort of melded a couple of different versions together in the final edit and it came together really well.



What did getting that moment mean for Pete, emotionally?
I think it’s huge. Pete’s the only ghost who has a living child. To be a part of this momentous day in her life, that I’m sure he imagined he would never get the opportunity to see—and all of a sudden Sam and Jay come into their lives and they provide these kinds of opportunities. So, super emotional.

For me as an actor, I have a daughter. She’s not even two, so she’s years away from this moment, but of course you think about what it’ll be like to maybe walk your daughter down the aisle one day. And also my wife lost her mom right around the time when we got married—her mom wasn’t able to come to our wedding because she was very sick; she actually passed away the day after we got married. I thought a lot about my mother-in-law, too.

I think so many people obviously experience getting married without their parents there, for whatever reason, whether they’ve lost a parent or both parents. It’s what makes an episode like this special. A lot of people in the audience are going to be able to tap into their emotions about what it would feel like to have a day like that and not have your parent there. I think everybody [in that position] wishes and hopes in some form or another that their parents are there in spirit or in their memories. This provides a really nice opportunity to kind of say, “Hey, even if your loved ones aren’t at a wedding or whatever momentous occasion in your life, they’re there in one form or another.”

Was there any other memorable part about filming the episode?
The actress who plays my daughter in the flashback, Emily Mitchell…this little girl is so good. She’s so good. She’s actually in the Oscar-nominated movie from this past year WOMEN TALKING; she plays a little girl in that movie. She’s been all over the place in the last couple of years. But it was so fun to shoot with her. She was so great. And it’s that scene where I’m screaming at my wife while trying to have this sweet moment with her; it’s very funny because I’m basically screaming in this little girl’s face. She was just a real joy to shoot with and her mom, who was there, was lovely. So that was a really fun moment.

This was my first flashback in GHOSTS, other than my death. My first flashback where I’m not wearing [the troop uniform] or don’t have an arrow in my neck. So it was really fun to talk with the costume designers about, oh, what does Pete wear? What does ’80s Pete, outside of his scout troop uniform, look like? So I got to wear new glasses frames and got to pick out an outfit that we thought was very Pete. So that was really fun, too. It’s always fun to get to do a flashback and play this character out of the costume that we wear every single day.



We’re approaching the end of the season. What’s in store for Pete in these final episodes?
Oh man, we’re coming around to the end. Pete has gone on a real journey. This season was a lot about exploring his future away from feeling married for the first time. This happened a little bit in season 1, too, but I think [he’s] coming to terms with the fact that, hey, your wife has moved on and it’s probably time for you to move on, too. So a lot of it has been this discovery of, okay, what do I need? What do I want? Can I have a relationship in my afterlife? And is Alberta the person that makes sense? She’s sending a lot of signals that she’s not there. So I think Pete’s doing a lot of exploration about what the future of his love life and his afterlife will be.

He’s also going on a constant journey of how to stand up for himself, and how to take ownership over moments in his life and take initiative and not be a punching bag all the time—because there are a lot of moments this season where he’s the butt of the joke, and he is the punching bag. But I think he’s learning more and more, as the season goes on, to stand up for himself. And to have conviction and speak up when he feels like something isn’t right.

I will say, this season ends on such a fun cliffhanger that I’m just very excited to see how it turns out…I’m really, really excited to hear the fan response to the end of season 2. It’s going to be a really exciting cliffhanger and a really interesting conversation point for people as we lead into season 3.

Is this a cliffhanger for something that has been threaded throughout the season or is it a twist no one will see coming?
I think there are a couple of things. They do a nice job with tying up a storyline that has been going on since the beginning of season 1. But then there’s also a moment that I think is a big shock. It leaves a major question unanswered. It speaks to the way that the Joes kind of crafted this season—they do a couple of things really well in that final episode that I’m just really excited to see how it turns out in the edit…I’m very excited to get to watch along with the audience for the final few episodes here.

As you alluded to, Pete and Alberta seem to be on different pages right now. What conversations have you had with Danielle Pinnock and the writers about nurturing this relationship as they are in this limbo?
Yeah, I think it’s really interesting. And, to be honest, I don’t know—I think there’s a lot unknown, both from the writers’ side, the showrunner side, from our side. Danielle and I are like whatever happens, we’re so excited to continue to explore this, whether it takes a pause or whether it continues to kind of develop in different ways.

I don’t think we’ve seen the end of their exploration of a potential relationship. But I do think that the writers have made it clear in a number of instances this season that Alberta’s not feeling this right now, for a number of reasons. So Pete is respecting that and kind of laying low.

It is one of the exciting things about being on a show like this: we’re shooting one episode, we’ll be doing a table read at lunchtime for the next episode or two down the road. And we are all discovering the storylines not too far before the audience discovers them. So there’s a lot that’s very exciting and, I think, a lot of different opportunities. And who knows? There could be the introduction of a new ghost that starts a very serious relationship with Pete very quickly in the future. And that’s not happening in season 2, but that is something that could absolutely happen at some point. There’s so many possibilities. And they created a lot of ghost rules in this universe that allow for a lot of different storylines like that to happen. So it’s part of the fun of a show like this. There are a lot of opportunities for different directions that things can be taken.

GHOSTS, Thursdays, 8:30/7:30c, CBS

RELATED:

• GHOSTS: Richie Moriarty Previews Pete’s Daughter’s Big Day
• GHOSTS: ‘Ghost Father of the Bride’ Photos
• GHOSTS: ‘Alberta’s Descendant’ Photos
• GHOSTS: ‘Weekend from Hell’ Photos
• GHOSTS: Devan Chandler Long and Sheila Carrasco Preview Thor’s Attempt to Control His Anger
• GHOSTS: ‘Isaac’s Book’ Photos
• GHOSTS: Asher Grodman Praises the ‘Transactional,’ ‘Strategic,’ ‘Fun’ Relationship Between Trevor and Hetty
• GHOSTS Post-Mortem: Sheila Carrasco and Devan Chandler Long on Flower and Thor’s Date Twist
• GHOSTS: Sheila Carrasco and Devan Chandler Long Preview Flower and Thor’s First Date
• GHOSTS: ‘A Date to Remember’ Photos
• GHOSTS Post-Mortem: Asher Grodman on Trevor’s Closure with His Parents and That Unconventional Bar Mitzvah Theme
• GHOSTS: Asher Grodman Previews Trevor’s Unexpected Reunion with His Parents
• GHOSTS: ‘Trevor’s Body’ Photos
• GHOSTS Post-Mortem: Nichole Sakura on Jessica’s Big Decision
• GHOSTS: Nichole Sakura on the Fun (and Physical Challenge) of Playing Jessica
• GHOSTS: ‘Ghost Hunter’ Photos
• GHOSTS: ‘The Family Business’ Photos
• GHOSTS: ‘The Perfect Assistant’ Photos
• The GHOSTS Cast Previews a Very Merry (And Mayhem-Filled) Ghostmas
• GHOSTS: ‘The Christmas Spirit’ Photos
• GHOSTS Post-Mortem: Richie Moriarty on Pete’s Big Gesture to Alberta
• GHOSTS: ‘The Liquor License’ Photos
• GHOSTS Post-Mortem: Richie Moriarty on the ‘Dumb Deaths’ Reveal
• GHOSTS: Richie Moriarty Shares His Experience Working with Mathew Baynton and Teases a New Chapter in Pete’s Backstory
• GHOSTS: ‘Dumb Deaths’ Photos
• GHOSTS Post-Mortem: Devan Chandler Long on Thorfinn’s Family Reunion
• GHOSTS’ Devan Chandler Long Teases Thor Will Experience a ‘Series of Emotions’ in ‘The Baby Bjorn’
• GHOSTS: ‘The Baby Bjorn’ Photos
• GHOSTS Post-Mortem: Rebecca Wisocky Dissects Hetty’s Awkward Reunion with Molly
• GHOSTS: Rebecca Wisocky and Román Zaragoza Preview the Arrival of a New Spirit in ‘Halloween 2: The Ghost of Hetty’s Past’
• GHOSTS: ‘Halloween 2: The Ghost of Hetty’s Past’ Photos
• GHOSTS Post-Mortem: Román Zaragoza on Sass’ Secret
• GHOSTS: ‘The Tree’ Photos
• GHOSTS Post-Mortem: Sheila Carrasco on Flower’s Closure: ‘This is Something That Will Stick with Her for a Long Time’
• GHOSTS: Sheila Carrasco Previews a Cult Invading Woodstone B&B—and New Flower Backstory
• GHOSTS: ‘Jay’s Friends’ Photos
• GHOSTS Post-Mortem: Danielle Pinnock on Alberta’s Big Secret—and the First Suspect in Her Murder
• GHOSTS: Danielle Pinnock Previews the ‘Glitz and Glam’ of Alberta’s 1920s-Era Flashback—and the Secret the Songstress is Desperate to Keep
• GHOSTS: ‘Alberta’s Podcast’ Photos
• GHOSTS: What You Need to Know About the Season Premiere
• CBS Releases New Teasers for GHOSTS, FIRE COUNTRY, EAST NEW YORK, CSI: VEGAS, and More
• GHOSTS Season 2 Premiere: ‘Spies’ Photos
• GHOSTS Season 2 Teaser Video: Can Jay See the Spirits?!
• GHOSTS Showrunners Joe Port and Joe Wiseman Pick Their Favorite Season 1 Moments
• GHOSTS Post-Mortem: Asher Grodman Breaks Down the Unexpectedly Emotional ‘Trevor’s Pants’
• GHOSTS’ Asher Grodman Teases the ‘Trevor’s Pants’ Reveal: ‘I Did Not See That Coming’
• GHOSTS: Rebecca Wisocky Reflects on Hetty and Thor’s Bond, Previews ‘Shenanigans’ Ahead for Other Ghostly Residents
• CBS Renews GHOSTS, THE NEIGHBORHOOD, and BOB HEARTS ABISHOLA
• GHOSTS Post-Mortem: Rebecca Wisocky on ‘The Vault’ Twist That ‘Will Change Our Universe’
• GHOSTS: Rebecca Wisocky Previews Hetty’s Reunion With Her Long MIA Husband
• GHOSTS: Utkarsh Ambudkar Previews Sam’s Reunion with Her Mom
• GHOSTS EPs Joe Wiseman and Joe Port on Their Strategy for Revealing the Ghost Rules
• GHOSTS: Utkarsh Ambudkar Previews Hetty Possessing Jay
• GHOSTS: Danielle Pinnock on Alberta’s Death and That Bonkers Tattoo
• GHOSTS: Danielle Pinnock Previews Alberta’s Encounter with a Superfan
• GHOSTS Post-Mortem: Richie Moriarty Breaks Down the ‘Pete’s Wife’ Reveals
• GHOSTS’ Richie Moriarty on Meeting a Mini-Pete on Halloween, Plus Pete’s Upcoming Family ‘Reunion’

Follow @GiveMeMyRemote and @marisaroffman on Twitter for the latest TV news. Connect with other TV fans on GIVE ME MY REMOTE’s official Facebook page.

And be the first to see our exclusive videos by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases made through links/ads placed on the site.